I had heard of Pussy Riot but didn’t really know much about them or the case that this book is about. This is a very interesting look at what happened both before, during and after the infamous event. I would have liked more details about Maria’s time in prison and what happened after she left but this was a very good read.

Riot Days is the story of Maria Alyokhina's stint in the Russian prison system, which she was thrust into for opposing Putin with her all-girl punk band, Pussy Riot in a church. I am ashamed to say that, before I read this book, I had never heard of Maria Alyokhina, but with all the googling I've done since I've finished this book, I can safely say that she is one amazing woman. From all her opposition she did whilst locked up in a Russian prison camp, to the amazing way she refused to plead guilty to a crime she did not commit when everyone was telling her she should, to save herself. She is a true inspiration to all women, around the world, and seeing the true horrors of the Russian political system from the inside was a massive privilege, and one you truly understand when reading from this perspective.

Published in 2017, Maria Alyokhina’s Riot Days is a raw and real account of the member of Russian rock band Pussy Riot’s arrest and incarceration. Part political manifesto, part memoir, the book is written in stream of consciousness, giving an abrupt account of Alyokhina’s experiences with the Russian penal system.

The book starts with a simple desire: that of raising awareness of the revolution. What revolution? The Russian revolution. What Russian revolution? The one that’s happening now, today. Alyokhina recounts her political journey, from the first T-shirt she stenciled a political message onto to the day she and the rest of Pussy Riot smuggled an electric guitar into a church, an act of rebellion that ultimately led to their incarceration. Through doing this, Alyokhina explores the ways in which Russian politics are connected to the church. This is aided by the train of thought style in which she writes, as her impressions of the law’s severity and injustice are interspersed with outright facts and quotes from officials on the subject of Pussy Riot and their sentence.

Something that particularly interested me about this book was the relationships between women. The majority of the characters in Riot Days are women: Alyokhina, her fellow Pussy Rioters, the other inmates, and a number of the prison guards. From a feminist perspective, it’s interesting to study femininity in a prison setting. Although this memoir features a community of women, they are pitted against each other in such a way that they no longer stand together in any way: all sense of sisterhood or community is lost in the hopelessness that defines the Russian penal system.

Although a main focus is the ways in which various women are antagonised, I personally was moved by the care and understanding that Alyokhina witnesses and shows towards her fellow inmates. Although she is aware that certain women are being used as spies (Alyokhina stands out in the prison as being a “political prisoner”, and is therefore isolated from the other women), she does not resent them as she understands the difficulty of their circumstances. She describes how traumatic prison life is, having to go through punishments such as invasive genital probed masked as medical exams, and so cannot blame others for trying to escape it by any means. Alyokhina also describes, however briefly, the romantic or sexual relationships that the inmates form with each other; although she never self-describes as a lesbian, she mentions that she keeps a photograph of a fellow inmate and revolutionary safe with her belongings, a passage which is endearing in it’s purity and care.

Overall I found Riot Days to be an informative look into a side of feminism that I was dramatically unaware of: that of Russian women’s persons. Through a simple and captivating writing style, Alyokhina creates a straightforward narrative of her incarceration, sparing none of the horrific details, but also painting a portrait of a penal system that can be conquered with time and effort. An uplifting read, and an inspirational one.

Riot Days is a memoir by Maria, “Masha”, Alyokhina, one of the founding members of the Russian feminist protest punk band Pussy Riot.  Its subject the events following the band’s anti-Putin Demonstration in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral in 2012, to the arrest and then imprisonment in Russian penal colonies.

The arrested members of the band were charged with “Hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” because the prosecutor made the case that the use of the words “Holy Shit” in the song was an attempt to insult to all of Christianity.

Obviously the pun was lost in translation.

For 30 seconds of a song Masha and her band mates were each sentenced to two years in penal colonies.

The book takes you all through the court case and it’s wonderfully presented as there are excerpts from the court transcript showing just how much of a farce their case was, or perhaps the entire Russian legal system where government opposition is concerned.  Whether that’s the leaps of logic the prosecution make to charge them with more than just trespassing, or the blatant disregard from the Judge and guards.

The majority of the book concerns the penal sentence and the dire conditions, including being put in to solitary confinement with no books, barely a mattress, and just a hole in the floor to take care of your business.  As well as the daily humiliations and verbal abuse from the guards, and tantamount to emotional torture when prisoners were denied theirs letters, phone calls, or visitations, in some cases a tactic used in an attempt to turn other prisoners against Masha. 

There is one instance while in a jail during her trial, where it was so cold that the inmates attempted to seal cracks and gaps around the window in their cell with left over bread and spare sanitary pads.

The penal colony, the day to day regime, the so called “rehabilitation”, reminded me a lot of the Red Centre in Handmaid’s Tale – telling the girls they were either worthless or their only proper place was at home making Borsch.

Actually a lot of it reminded me of Handmaid’s Tale

I found it incredibly ironic that the reaction from the Putin regime – let’s face it, they were the ones controlling the situation – was to be draconian, Soviet even, and put the girls in prison for a long time to silence their protest, to bend them in to submission.  However, the result was that not only did Pussy Riot become internationally known for their protest, but they continued to protest and defy the regime of the prison systems to fight for the human rights of their fellow prisoners.

It’s a very candid account of what it means to be a part of the resistance in Putin’s Russia, and a wakeup call to the extent of the police state and authoritarianism under Putin that is in no way to be admired or aspired to, and especially not by Western Leaders.  But equally it a warning to  populations who hunker down in their own ignorance to elect such leaders and parties, or blithely accepting what is presented on pro-party news outlets to maintain the fiction these regimes create.

Between the subject material and the Russian writing style it could have been heavy and dry, with 
very wordy prose, but Masha kept the sentences short and simple, and created a wonderfully accessible narrative while maintaining a good pace and tone.

It’s laid out in short bursts of paragraphs, somewhere between diary entries and the transcript of a vlog.  It feels very appropriate as a memory piece, rather makes me wonder whether Masha dictated the text rather than writing.  I admit to start with it felt a little disjointed to read but once you get in to the momentum you find a certain kind of poetry in her style.

It’s not all doom and gloom, there is inspiration, a rallying call, for protest and for what can be achieved through persistence in the face of popularism.

I think it’s an important read for anyone who considers themselves part of a resistance, whether #MarchForOurLives, or the Time’s Up / #MeToo movements, or any anti-austerity bodies in the UK.  Just to pick up a line;

“Revolution is a story.  If we fell out of it, disappeared, it would be their story, not ours.”  

That was in reference to the choice not to leave Russia or hide in the countryside, but I think it appeals to all of us not to think our job is done after one protest.  That there needs to be persistence, that no government can be allowed to have behaviours unchecked, regardless of what the consequences might be for the protester.

(Review as appears on Goodreads)

I found the style and presentation so difficult that I did not get past chapter one. Too clever for its own good and a dull set-up. Any book that says, "put me down" is obeyed with so much good stuff out there. Sorry.

Riot Days tells the story of Maria 'Masha' Alyokhina, one of the Pussy Riot members jailed in 2012 after a performance inside a Moscow Cathedral. While at the beginning of the book we learn the motivation behind this performance, what happened the day of the performance and how Masha and other members were on the run following the event, the bulk of the book focuses on what happened after they were arrested. We're told the horrors of the Russian prison system and what happened to Masha while incarcerated. We learn of things Masha did in prison to improve the living conditions and the ways she was punished for speaking out.

I found the book fascinating and it was a quick read. My low score was more a reflection on the fact that this book has an almost stream of consciousness writing style at times. It took me a while to get into the flow of things (to the point where I almost gave up on it) but once I got it I enjoyed reading it. As I read it by ebook, I would like to see a copy of it as a physical book as I think the way it's written may book better laid out in a physical book. I think I may have picked up on the stream of consciousness style a lot faster that way and settled into the book quicker.

I heard about Pussy Riot at the time but had no idea they were jailed, much less what they went through. This short, punchy book shines a light on the shocking treatment of people in Russia as well as the bravery of Maria, who fought against the maltreatment of inmates.

In Riot Days Alyokhina leads readers down a a dark path, into the heart of Russia's corrupt prison system but somehow manages to leave them with a sense of hope. 
Alyokhina informs us what she did that lead to her incarceration and how she took her 'political' prisoner label and put it to use, fighting for prisoners basic human rights. Alyokhina may have been found guilty, but she sure as shit was not going to take her sentence and waste it. Instead she kicked up the biggest fuss she could. 
Her story shines a light on how inhumane the treatment of prisoners is in Russia and highlights how important it is to stand up and use your voice to help those around you get the basic level of human respect that should automatically be paid to them in the first place. 

I really struggled with Riot Days at first, it's written in a stream of consciousness style that I am not quite used as it felt abrupt and choppy. However, once I got used to it I was sucked into Alyokhina's story, despite knowing nothing about Russia or it's political climate. 
I know that Putin is president and I must admit that I have not done any research at all, I've steered quite clear of anything to do with him if I'm quite honest and the only reason I have is that when I look at him I get this visceral reaction that screams at me to run and stay as far away from this man as possible. I don't get that feeling often, especially not as strong as I have with Putin. After reading Riot Days though I think I may have to tune in to his name while looking into what is happening in the world. 

Alyokhina has a way of pulling at your heart-strings in a way that has the reader not just feeling heartbroken at the treatment she received while incarcerated but also angry and ready for action. 
Her sass and frank dialogue helped lift the mood just enough as to not feel depressed the whole way through but also showed just who Russia is dealing with here. 
In the beginning of Alyokhina's story you get the feeling she really has no idea what she's getting herself into, that she in unprepared and that it is hard to believe she will make it out of the experience alive, and yet she proves time and time again that she may have been one of the best people they could have arrested because she refused to lay down and give up. She fought with everything in her, while malnourished and sick. She faced people who made her life excruciating, knowing that she is making things harder for herself. That it is best for her to be quiet. But Alyokhina will not be silenced. She is here to riot.

I just didn't like this book at all, sorry - it may have been lost in translation, but I just didn't feel anything or care about what happened. Sorry!

I honestly found this book super informative and interesting.

Riot Days is an incredible firsthand account of Alyokhina’s time in Russian prisons as a political prisoner. It’s a story only she could tell and she does not waste any words. 

This book reads like a stream of consciousness memory. The sentences are short and, at times, choppy, but it feels like it fits the subject matter. Alyokhina brings human rights violations committed at Russian penal colonies to light. A rare glimpse for most. Without a moment of preachiness, this book forces you to question how far you would go for your freedom and how would you fight for what you believe is right. 

While I thought there could have been a little more context surrounding what the political climate in Russia is like, and the reasons why, this is truly a gem of a book. Alyokhina’s voice deserves to be heard.

This book is activist Maria Alyokhina’s account of her experiences with Punk rock group Pussy Riot from its founding to the last day of her prison term in 2013. The writing and structure may be chaotic and off putting for some but in these times of political uprisings it's an important book that I will recommend to friends and family.

Maria Alyokhina briefly achieved worldwide fame as as the leader of the Russian punk performance art group, Pussy Riot, after performing for mere moments in a Russian church a song disrespecting Vladimir Putin.  She was arrested as a political prisoner and disappeared not just from public consciousness, but literally to the Russian gulag as a dissident.  Told unconventionally often in a stream of consciousness, this is her story.  The beginning is a little confusing as it is filled with prose, lyrics, and disparate thoughts, but this chronicle is very much worth reading and a sharp lesson to those who claim the American government is fascist.  This is what real political oppression looks like and not much has changed since the Soviet era.  It's a very personal story as Maria gains her confidence and becomes a spokesperson fighting for the rights of political prisoners hidden away in Russian prisons in the Urals

A very gripping account about being part of one of the most infamous group of modern revolutionaries. Once you pick this up you won't want to put it down. A political memoir for the modern age.

A memoir of one bands protest in Russia. A tale that brings to light the modern Russian penal system and one woman's struggle against injustice and corruption.

Couldn't read on time due to a broken e reader. My sincere apologies to the author and publisher for this.

Most of the books in my winter round-up have been written by someone famous but without the balaclava, you probably wouldn't recognise Maria Alyokhina's name. You'll definitely know who Pussy Riot are though. This book isn't definitive account of the shortlived activist band but rather Maria's personal recollections of what it was like to live through this highly publicised time in her life: the plan, the protest, the arrest, the jail time. The book is only about 200 pages but it's powerful in its everydayness. Well, doing activism is pretty normal to me but maybe not so much for everyone - but still, you would imagine by the way that Russia treated these women that they'd tried to blow something up rather than sing a song in a church. One of the things I've always found so fascinating about Pussy Riot is how they went from the fringes of Russian society to international icons within a matter days, and what a huge struggle it was for them to adjust. This book is a nice window into that experience.

A blunt, honest look at the infamous Pussy Riot protests and the incarceration of the members. This is a raw, emotional memoir and I would recommend it highly

From activist, Pussy Riot member and freedom fighter Maria Alyokhina is a warts and all version of her arrest, trial and imprisonment in a penal colony in Russia.  It is blunt and rather shocking at how the inmates are treated within the system.  It made for an illuminating read.

This book was a real contradiction in many ways. The writing style could be random and disjointed  and the prose often was simple and bare. However the raw emotion it generated cannot be described.  I actually couldn't put this book down and all but read in one sitting