Kirkus Reviews, in its starred review, called Bewilderment a "touching novel that offers a vital message with uncommon sympathy and intelligence."[5] Dwight Garner of The New York Times characterized it as a book about "ecological salvation" with a "nubbly sentimentality" but said it "is so meek, saccharine and overweening in its piety about nature that even a teaspoon of it numbs the mind."[7] A more positive review by The Guardian called it a "tender sci-fi novel-cum-family romance."[8]
Publishers Weekly compared the novel to Flowers for Algernon and wrote, "The planetary descriptions grow a bit repetitive and don't gain narrative traction, but in the end, Powers transforms the wrenching story into something sublime. Though it's not his masterpiece, it shows the work of a master."[4] Writing for Harper's Magazine, novelist Claire Messud felt the novel's plot and themes were too familiar to Powers' earlier works, and criticized the characterization. Messud writes,
Though central to the narrative, Alyssa is a cipher whose flatness is rendered plausible only by Theo's limited point of view. Moreover, the sketch of Theo's personal and family history feels as thin as paper. But if Theo's other relationships remain one-dimensional, the connection between father and son has greater density and texture, as does Robin's urgent and unbridled passion for the natural world.[9]
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