"Africans" was included in 1999 in Kohler's One Girl: A Novel in Stories, a book that was not heavily reviewed. However, those who did review the book reacted positively. Some reviewers discuss the definition of the book and decide that it is more short story collection than novel, despite the book's title. Says the reviewer for Publishers Weekly, "This collection is a novel only in the most metaphorical sense, but that suits a book in which so much is accomplished by implication and suggestion." Likewise, in her review of the book for the New York Times, Sarah Saffian notes: "This is ultimately a story collection and not a novel . . . because while the threads running through do intertwine, her story lines are left tantalizingly unresolved."

Reviewers also note Kohler's skilled use of language. The Publishers Weekly reviewer calls the language "lush" and says that it "belies a sense...