Reviews of the book have been positive, with special praise for the detail of the authors' research. In The New York Times, Dwight Garner called the authors "meticulous journalists", noting that "this taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump’s shambolic tenure in office to date."[6] Writing for The Guardian, Lloyd Green called the book "richly sourced and highly readable", and observed that it provided a contrasting, "unsettling" account in comparison to other "tell-all or third-party confessional" books.[18] Comparing the book to Fire and Fury, Rieke Havertz of Die Zeit observed that the detailed factual portrayal of disturbing incidents in the Trump White House made the book read like a political thriller.[10]
Criticism of A Very Stable Genius has focused on sourcing and the overall purpose of the book. In The Washington Post, Joe Klein noted that the book's uneven sourcing made some portrayals of key figures less convincing than expected, but generally praised the book for showing that Trump "has created his own ideology and his own party".[12] Writing for The Times, Justin Webb criticized the tone and purpose of A Very Stable Genius, suggesting that the authors should have spent their time investigating infighting within the Democratic Party instead of writing "another of these breathless inside-the-Trump-White-House takes", but noted that the book was nonetheless useful for understanding Trump.[19] Peter Spiegel's review for the Financial Times also questioned the purpose of writing another detailed book that recounted well-known information about the administration, but ultimately concluded that the book provided a necessary reminder to readers that Trump's behavior is "aberrant".[20]
In its first week of release, A Very Stable Genius placed first on The New York Times Best Seller list in the hardcover nonfiction category, and first overall on the USA Today bestseller list.[21][22] The book also placed first on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list for print books, and sold over 120,000 copies in all formats.[23]
