A rigorous study that throbs and pummels hard to beneath the surface of fetish. It's written with an electric charge. I submitted to every page -- Jodie Harsh Sensual, whip-smart... Delve[ s] into the radical world of sexual fetishists, the politics at kink's core, and how fetish shapes life well beyond the darkroom * Vogue * An elegant, intelligent, intimate exploration of the way a sexual charge can alchemize objects and vibes into worlds unto themselves -- Michelle Tea A personal and informative exploration of the many worlds of fetishism. I really enjoyed it -- Cosey Fanni Tutti [ Written] with keen sensitivity and authentic interest... Fedorova traverses the personal and the professional, writing candidly about her journey into fetish, weaving intimate stories of her own sex life into a truly contemporary documentation of what kink means to its communities today * AnOther Magazine * A perfect balance of fascinating history, reflective memoir and up-to-date reporting. I slipped into Second Skin as if it were a glove. Fetish may not be for everyone-but this book is! -- Adam Zmith A fascinating book about fetish and community. It works on both the mind and the senses; an erudite, intimate and beautifully written account of the textures and symbols that animate our erotic lives -- Jack Parlett Expansive and intimate, probing and emboldening... A book for anybody who has ever wondered what it might mean to put more of ourselves - dare we say, all of ourselves? - into sex -- Polly Barton Insightful, clear-eyed, generous and surprisingly tender... You will feel it wrap itself around you like a gimp mask or a hard-earned embrace from your perfect Domina -- Brittany Newell At last, a book on kink that isn't squeamish and that doesn't act like its subjects are bewildering freaks! Part tender investigation, part ecstatic hymn, Second Skin will give you goose bumps in all kinds of places -- Charlie Fox An archive, a celebration. At times, it's reminiscent of conversations had with like-minded friends and fellow queers. A complex, nuanced, and deeply rewarding foray into a world paradoxically visible and in the shadows -- Joshua Jones A tender, romantic paean to a subculture that has radically elevated the life of its author... Candid, meticulous... Second Skin is not about groundless provocation or simple rubbernecking; it's about popping the hood and revealing the relationships and care that make up these communities... A memoir-cum-cultural history that feels bracingly intimate * Dazed * Enlightening and at times amusing... The book gathers a cumulative force in shedding light on sexuality more broadly... A thoughtful and thought-provoking treatise that articulates the uncharted experience of female fetishism and destigmatises fetish by bringing it out of the dungeon and into the light * Financial Times * [ Fedorova] excels at sensual writing... Second Skin interweaves vivid personal experience and interviews with fascinating historical research... almost unbearably moving -- Rowan Pelling * Telegraph * Crisp and evocative... Rather than explaining or decoding the fetishes and kinks, Fedorova gives the reader close-tethered access, she counsels but rarely offers answers and doesn't insist on the reader's full comprehension of what she investigates either * to Be Magazine * Meticulously researched, passionately penned... [ Second Skin] advocates for a person's right to like what they like and to get it consensually * Los Angeles Times * [ Fedorova] writes shrewdly about how we imbue objects with meaning and status... She takes a historian's pleasure in handling obscure ephemera and a kinkster's delight in the scent of the Dettol spray used to clean fetish clubs... [ Second Skin] takes our most uncanny attractions and reveals their eminent humanity -- Lillian Fishman * New Yorker *