[Boys in the Trees suggests a] feeling of grateful, hopeful and also slightly cautious contentment….

Boys in the Trees is Carly Simon's most serene accomplishment to date, but its moods vary dramatically enough to indicate that peace of mind comes at a high price….

The scrubbed-down Simon is a mightily seductive creature and also a somewhat mocking one, but for once these elements are firmly controlled….

Boys in the Trees has a few holes, but there are no major craters—and for an artist as erratic as Simon once was, achieving this kind of consistency amounts to a major break-through…. ["Haunting"] is a throwback to Carly Simon's more pretentious days. But for the most part, she's become quite a reliable songwriter, even at the cost of being repetitive ("Back Down to Earth" is a direct recycling of "Haven't Got Time for the Pain"). And the confidence and clarity of her delivery mesh beautifully with the mature intelligence that's at work in so much of her material. (p. 91)