Rolling Stone (p.86) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[M]ixing adorable playground scats with spoken-word whispers and parched coos....The arrangements also dress simple tunes in surprising ways, with odd choral bits and percolating percussion webs..."

Spin (p.118) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he approach proves bulletproof: Her voice is mousy, the low end juicy, the melodies sketchy, the choruses huge."

Spin (p.47) - Ranked #36 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[T]he steely passion is pure Lykke Li -- this is her proclamation of absolute fidelity."

Magnet (p.110) - "'Dance Dance Dance' is driven by a basic acoustic-guitar rhythm, a chugging horn section, minimal percussion and found sounds..."

CMJ - "[S]he churns out bright electro-pop at one moment, and then turns around and pumps out tracks full of live instrumentation and delicately soulful crooning at another."

Global Rhythm (Publication) (p.48) - "Whether she's waxing intimate and vulnerable on the echo-washed piano ballad 'Melodies & Desires,' or rocking out on the oddly new-wavish 'Breaking It Up,' Li is adding a fresh voice to a growing collective of homegrown Swedish talent..."

Blender (Magazine) (p.82) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "'My Love' blooms from a simple Spanish guitar into a cymbal-crashing Phil Spector grandeur, and the funereal closer, 'Window Blue,' reveals the sultry timbres of her voice."

Paste (magazine) (p.71) - "[D]eterminedly diverse....[YOUTH NOVELS] marries inventive dance rhythms to confessional songwriting....With Li finding cathartic joy in the simple act of making music."