 The book received many positive reviews and was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2006" by "The New York Times".Some negative reviews, including one in "The Guardian", accused the text of being overly stylized and Pessl of having "a tin ear for prose".In 2007, "Variety" reported that a movie version was in the works, to be produced by Scott Rudin and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the writing-directing team behind "Half Nelson", however, the project never progressed to filming.