Piercy's prose has been typed by critic Jane O'Reilly as "relentlessly accurate," with "familiar figures earnest even about their jokes" revealing inner lives that "run to obsessive listmaking". Fly Away Home fits that type.

The narrative unfolds from a third-person, limited omniscient point of view — Daria's — and while it incorporates much dialogue, the singular perspective is never truly augmented. Some critics contend this viewpoint inhibits complete characterization for all but Daria, and they cite its very "limitation" as a flaw. Others believe it preserves suspense. As Daria sleuths to solve riddles, so do readers.

Daria wonders, questions for herself frequently in this novel, which then becomes a device for furthering the plot, detective-style. Her transformations cohere in metaphoric dualities: ashes and rebirth, parking lots and gardens, fire and earth. Hence, while the subject matter of Fly Away Home is dire, the mood, overall, is "translucent and...