Kirkus Reviews found the book to be "a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight. This book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility."[5] NPR opined that "A Gentleman in Moscow is a novel that aims to charm ... and the result is winning, stylish ... Flair is always the goal – Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when they could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand."[6] At Book Marks, a review aggregator website, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 11 reviews: 3 "Rave", 5 "Positive", and 3 "Mixed".[7] Queen Camilla, then Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, recommended the book to those in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
A Gentleman in Moscow was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize in Fiction & Literature.[9] It was also an International Dublin Literary Award nominee (2018 longlist).[10]
The audiobook, narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith,[11] was an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award winner in 2016.[12]
