"The book has two major strengths. First, Hoang’s access and immersion into the daily lives of discrete (and often, irregular) migrants involved in Russia’s black economy. Then, her ability to convey their varied and changing experiences through an embodied approach. [...] This type of ethnographic exploration is indispensable."
- Valentine Gavard-Suaire, Asian Journal of Social Science, 49 (2021)

"English-language sources on Vietnamese in Russia remain limited, and Hoang’s book makes an important contribution to this interesting phenomenon. The book would be most beneficial to migration studies scholars and those concerned with Russia and Vietnam in particular. However, the book also does an absolutely excellent job of offering examples of good ethnographic writing, something that many ethnographies today fall short of. Graduate and undergraduate ethnography classes would benefit considerably from the book’s ethnographic content. Hoang is also featured on the University of Melbourne’s Ear to Asia podcast discussing this research, which is a nice supplement to the book itself."
- Paul Capobianco, Asian Ethnology, 80, 1 (2021)

"This is an exceptionally fascinating commentary on how the uncertainty of the Moscow environment has created possibilities as well as difficulties for Vietnamese migrants. Compellingly argued, with rich ethnographic data, this is a wonderful addition to the literature on migration."
- Mandy Thomas, Executive Dean, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

"Deeply compelling and irresistibly important, Lan Anh Hoang has provided an extraordinary analysis on a much-overlooked migrant community in Russia’s changing socioeconomic and racial landscape ... a significant achievement."
- Hung Cam Thai, Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center

"This book offers a conceptually sophisticated yet fine-grained analysis of how Vietnamese migrants improvise in mastering the art of contingent living in Russia’s shadow economy. It is an important reading for all those interested in migration and mobility."
- Brenda Yeoh, Professor of Geography, National University of Singapore