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In a Kirkus review from 1974, The Diviners is described as one of Laurence's "least effective novels," and "generally too crowded and warmed over." Other sources, focusing on the inclusion of Canadian "socio-cultural engagements" state that the novel is "widely considered to be Laurence's masterpiece, and one of the greatest Canadian novels ever written."

The book is noted in a 1994 Globe and Mail article as "[c]ritically acclaimed but sexually explicit" alongside complaints from parents seeking to have the book banned from high schools in the Peterborough County Board of Education. Repeated mentions of the "salty language" and questionable content have followed the novel since its publication in 1974 through to the current time period. Yet, it is also praised for its acknowledgement of important social issue, including the after effects of colonialism, single motherhood, interracial relations, and the relationship between parent and child.

More recent discussion of the novel liken its relevance in the 2000s to aging rather than being considered a dated work of literature.