 Lucas Villa of AXS praised Stefani for " continu [ ing ] her streak of solid pop tunes by turning her confessional lyrics into completely delectable hooks , " further stating that " if this is misery , sign us up for more of it please " ; similarly , Emilee Lindner of <unk> praised the track for " Gwen 's bouncy voice " . Lauren Duca , writing for The Frisky , labeled " Misery " as " catchy " and joked that " whether the song 's subject is Gavin Rossdale or Blake Shelton , I 'd burn calories listening to this song if it was about a Pomeranian Gwen met at a shelter and regrets not adopting . " On the same subject of Shelton and Rossdale , Amanda Bell of MTV News enjoyed the song , but was confused over the song 's lyrics and compared it to Stefani 's song " Make Me Like You " , stating " and unlike [ " Misery " ] , " Make Me Like You " was pretty straightforward with the ' in like ' adoration message " but later said she 's " miserably stumped " when it comes to " Misery " . 
