The book is celebrated for its "exquisite, evocative art". Park uses a limited palette of black, white, and red on textured paper to create high-contrast, "dreamy" nighttime scenes.

Critics describe it as a "taut noir thriller" with a "bleak inevitability" similar to films like Dead Man . It heavily emphasizes mood and atmosphere, utilizing the stark New Mexico landscape to heighten Jimmy’s growing paranoia.

With very simple, repetitive text, the narrative follows a small girl and her puppy as they roll a snowball through town and woods. It captures the "subtle joy" and "silent wonder" of a snowy night.