Lively and sympathetic... A vivid account of the three women's arrest and then the harrowing absurdity of their trial that summer... Keenly observed and often moving
Tony Wood
Guardian
Powerful... This is scrupulous and sensitive journalism
AD Miller
Daily Telegraph




Immensely readable... It brilliantly traces the evolution of Pussy Riot
Angus Roxburgh ... Read more
Mail on Sunday





Gessen's sharp pen draws a caustic picture of the show trials in the summer of 2012 [and] prison correspondence provides a vivid picture of the continuing awfulness of the Russian penal system... Valuable
Economist
Powerful... this is a hotly anticipated book by one of Russia's most influential opposition journalists. It's a pacy telling of what is an extraordinary story
Carole Cadwalladr
Observer
A fine, full, deeply sympathetic portrait of a particular kind of courage, a punk dissidence that is at once frail and mighty
John Lloyd
Financial Times
A powerful indictment of the return to Soviet-era tactics to silence dissent... Enlightening [and] poignant
Lucy Popescu
Tablet
Thorough... Much here will be new to the reader. All of it is infuriating
New York Times
[It] is written in a dry, raised-eyebrow deadpan, which allows post-Soviet repression to indict itself and adeptly captures the bluster and headiness of activist idealism.... Moving
LA Times
[An] angry, clear and intimate look at the women behind Pussy Riot. Gessen's portraits are touching and a little sad
Ben Judah
Sunday Times
Gessen pulls together a psychological portrait of the three ring-leaders
Arifa Akbar
Independent
Gripping... a lucid account of the history of the group and their aims
Andrzej Lukowski
Metro
Gessen's clinical and thorough depiction of Pussy Riot is as personal as it is political
Una Mullally
Irish Times
Vividly told
Maria Alekhina
Sunday Herald
You really need to read this in-depth look at what it means be young, fearless and angry in the new Russia
Twin Factory
A solid piece of journalism... It reveals [Pussy Riot] as clever, funny, brave and idealistic. And it reveals Russia as a country still held back by a giant anchor dug into its Soviet past
Giles Whittel
The Times
Gessen makes a forceful case for Pussy Riot... As a Russian-American steeped in the same ideas that inspired Pussy Riot, [she] is a useful guide
Daniel Trilling
New Statesman
[This] offers an engaging and thoughtful exegesis of the events and personalities behind Pussy Riot. It is a lively addition to the canon of Russian prison literature. Gessen presents a scathing portrait of Putin-era judicial system
Fernanda Eberstadt
TLS
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