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Unmasked Young Adult Edition

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Telling the story of Turia's life before and after the fire, this young readers' this book unmasks the real Turia: funny, fierce, intelligent, flawed. With a new foreword from Turia, additional content and a new Q&A section, this edition covers topics such as confidence, goal-setting, family and friends and happiness that will resonate strongly with tweens and teens.

Unmasked reveals the woman behind the headlines, and in so doing, uncover the grace, humour and inner-steel that gets Turia Pitt through every day - and which leaves the rest of us watching on in amazement.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2018

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Turia Pitt

8 books64 followers

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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for ♡ India ♡.
378 reviews5 followers
April 15, 2024
I've put this off since September of 2021 and I finally get around to it now. But to tell the truth I'm glad I've read it only now since this is the time I need what Turia has to say about her experience, what she gained out of it and how you can apply what she has gained to your life as well the most.

Now I don't think books about confidence and goal setting are all that effective if the authors behind those books don't have an inspiring backstory that emphasise those topics. Turia Pitt on the other hand had a horrific accident happen to her. The fact that she grew to become an arguably more resilient and optimistic person out of that than she was before is incredible, and impacts the way she conveys her message of the value of confidence and stepping out of your comfort zone. If she did it, anyone who reads this book can definitely do it. And that's more inspiring and encouraging than any self-help book could ever be.

I loved this so much and has without doubt inspired me to do things that terrify me even just a bit more often.
Profile Image for Ella Edwards.
17 reviews9 followers
November 22, 2018
Absolutely loved it!!! Such an inspirational story. Every young person should read this book, it shows what dedication, hard work and a good mindset can achieve. A must read.
Profile Image for Soph.
43 reviews1 follower
April 25, 2020
I absolutely LOVED this book! Turia Pitt is such an inspirational women who concurred through all her troubles and difficulty’s.
She never gives up and always does the best that she can do and also more than what anyone could do! She triumphed the iron man and all races when the doctors said she maybe couldn’t even run!
She is an inspiration to all women and people and I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone and EVERYONE! 😁
8 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2019
This book made me think about courage when just recently being able to walk again, Turia said "Nine flights of stairs, two hundred and thirty four individual stairs. I was determined to climb them, so I'd take myself, Mum and Michael off each day, and eventually one day I walked every single one of them, It took me 3 hours."
The writer is teaching us about courage because since the fire she has, competed in an iron moari from this she also got selected to take part in the top athletes Iron Maori. Not long after that she walk the whole of the great wall of china and climbed mount Everest.
In my opinion, courage is so important to have because through out your whole life you are going to need it every step of the way whether it be making friends, applying for a job to public speaking.
Profile Image for Dimity Powell.
Author 34 books94 followers
February 27, 2020
The thing that screams most impressively in this tale about the real Turia Pitt, is her raw honesty and dogged determination, a stubbornness to not just never give in but to always push further. True grit is often bandied about as a commodity easily sourced from the self-help section of our bookshops, but this account of someone who has literally been to hell and back, presents life in all its glory, normality and of course horror with unashamed frankness.

Having survived the awful fire event in 2011 whilst competing in an outback marathon, Pitt allows the reader to relive her fear, pain and frustrations, before, immediately after being engulfed by flames and then into then beyond, down the long arduous road of recovery.

Along the way she bears more and more layers of herself, some relating to the 'old Turia', others glimpses of the new improved Turia. Improved because as she asserts, if she had not experienced such trauma, her life and future convictions may not have evolved as resolutely as they have.

Turia's inner strength appears to have been forged of steel, an internal fortitude and attitude that she has always possessed thanks to her upbringing and inherent character. The fire merely tempered that core of steel, intensifying her beliefs, philosophies and tenacity.

Unmasked is not just a deeper exploration of the lady behind her physical and emotional scars. It's a demonstration of the indomitable spirit of one human who refuses to see failure when she looks in the mirror, who looks defeat straight in the face and scoffs at it. And then runs a marathon just to prove she can.

The thing about this edition of Pitt's story is its extreme accessibility to young people. Teens are the main audience but self-doubt, lack of confidence and feelings of hopelessness can dump on any one of us any time. It doesn't always take a dramatic event to send your courage packing. Pitt's conversational candor speaks directly to young people assuring them that the tough choices are often the best ones whilst at the same time offering them a number of ways to circumvent doubt and boost morale. It's never preachy or didactic either. In fact, the narrative style is so right-here right-now, you'd swear Turia is in the same room with you, or more likely, companionably alongside you on a beach somewhere, gazing out over the waves. This makes the whole experience real enough to not only admire but also makes you sit up and realise, wait a minute, I can be stronger too. I can be better. I am special. I will make it.

Unlike some autobiographies that focus by their very nature on the narrator's take on events, here we are given the unique privilege of hearing several 'other sides of the story' thanks to excerpts from those closest to her: her amazing husband, her parents, her closest best buddies and her parent in-laws. This amalgamation of viewpoints provides additional information and an intimacy that promotes empathy and understanding.

And in spite of a smattering of informational links and recommendations (which really only serve the greater societal good anyway), this book still wallops a massive amount of positive takeaways on readers' 'how to cope' plates. Pitt is always paying it forward. Her attitude is tough, perhaps she is toughest on herself, but it is also refreshingly real and sharp enough as a wake up call to remind us all that life is short and sometimes brutal. But ultimately, it's up to you which channel of your life's show you are going to watch and be part of.

I loved the emotional ride Pitt takes us on. I love the vitality of her convictions and her selfless sharing of them. If only we could all let our masks slip away and share more of ourselves like this, think what an encompassing world this would be.
1 review
July 12, 2020
Unmasked is an amazing, down-to-earth, book that has everything that a terrific auto-biography should have. It is exhilarating but can be scary in some times. I rate this book 5/5 for its brilliance and is great for any age. This book will teach you that you should always be resilient and think positively even in the hardest of times. Turia Pitt is an amazing author, woman, mum, Australian mining engineer, athlete and motivational speaker. I recommend this book because it taught me how to really live life. Proud and full.
Profile Image for Almaz Lebdeh.
55 reviews
February 1, 2023
I’ve always loved Turia and found her to be such a real And down to earth influence on me. Her story is one of recovery and how resilient she was during such a hard time in her life. It’s so motivating to see her now and proves that anything is possible if we put in the effort.

She writes so well and It’s such a great Book for young adults and people of all ages!
Profile Image for Sophie .
142 reviews2 followers
April 9, 2019
Turia Pitt is such an inspirational woman! I really enjoyed reading Unmasked. Unmasked is about a woman (named Turia Pitt) that was running a 100km marathon in Kimberley, Western Australia, when an unexpected bushfire burnt her and Turia recieved burns to 65% of her body. This book was a short and easy book to read but had a huge impact. I loved learning about how Turia deals with her burns, learning how to talk, walk and run again. Turia actually went on to do an Ironman and inspire people everywhere. Her confidence and determination are fantastic! One of my favourite parts of the book were her family and friends point of views. They are so loving and loyal to Turia and it was emotional to see their experiences with her struggles. This book was really great and I would recommend it. 💕
Profile Image for Ruby.
66 reviews
August 7, 2022
Turia Pitt is honestly so inspiring and. This book just showcases that. I really want to really her other book now that is especially for teenagers and I just feel like I understand and know her so much more now
Profile Image for eileen.
5 reviews
May 5, 2024
Really inspiring but memoires and non fiction just isn’t for me
Profile Image for natasha.
32 reviews
June 20, 2024
I remember this being the first autobiography I've ever read. It's just as good as I remembered
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews