At Metacritic, which assigns a rated mean out of 100 from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 67, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In his review for About.com, Ben Norman wrote that "with the release of Unexpected, Williams has welcomed R&B back into her arms with a modern edge, a la Rihanna and Chris Brown, infusing her soulful lyrics with party beats and dance-like synths [...] this album fits nicely into a lot of musical niches, making it a good addition to most collections. And you may be humming some of these tracks years down the line. Not my favorite of the year, but not too shabby either." Mikael Wood of Billboard found that "Williams and her handlers have clearly been listening to recent hits by Rihanna and Ciara. That said, Unexpected does boast a handful of shiny electro-R&B gems that make Williams' journey from church to club as enjoyable as it was inevitable." Similarly, Blues & Soul reviewer Pete Lewis noted that "many of the album's synth-heavy uptempo cuts rely heavily on the kind of Euro-dance-inspired electronica utilised recently by fellow US urbanites like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake." Entertainment Weekly editor Josette Compton wrote that Unexpected "pumps with technodriven tracks like "Hello Heartbreak" (which is reminiscent of Kylie Minogue) and made-for-radio cuts like the lead off single, "We Break the Dawn." Although the album's effervescent club feel tapers off near the end, when the songs grow formulaic, the album's charm could still give Michelle Williams a shot at the charts." Robin Carolan of Slant Magazine called the Unexpected a "fairly decent album and by far the least pretentious, unashamedly pop record to be made by a Destiny's Child member so far." She noted that Williams had "stepped outside of the confines of the church and into the dark of the clubs, embracing au courant euro-pop sounds, and it's a move that works well for her." Andy Cooper, writing for Cross Rhythms, felt that "though the production quality is undoubtedly extremely high, the lyrical focus will be a big disappointment to anyone looking for some gospel inspiration. The teen girl audience would appear to be the target once again, and much digital trickery has been brought into play to help Michelle sound (and look) younger. It's a great R&B pop record musically, but with songs such as "Lucky Girl" and "Hungover" it's unexpectedly shallow." Vibe magazine declared Unexpected