Sal Cinquemani from "Slant" described it as a "tongue-in-cheek smash", and noted that "Lovefool" "criminally crowned the band as one-hit wonders in the U.S." Charles Aaron from "Spin" called it "lounge music so chilly with irony that you better bring a sweater, binky." Nick Mirov from "The Stanford Daily" noted that Persson is "sounding self-assured and confident" when she is "getting her own heart broken". Jaime Holguin from "Star-News" said it is a "kitschy pop gem" and "sticky sweet". Ian Hyland from "Sunday Mirror" stated that it is the "best pop song" of 1997. Treblezine wrote that "it’s not difficult to understand the effect of this song. It’s got that certain quality that digs right down into your being and glows with a precise sense of rhythm and pleasure."