«'The Hard Parts takes us from heartache to courage, from crushing disabilities to exemplary talents, from hopelessness to sky-high aspiration. Here is a young woman who persists with a fierce, undeniable optimism, no matter how devastating the challenges she has faced. Add to this timely story Oksana’s beginnings within the tragic backdrop of a Ukrainian orphanage. A hero lives among us.'»

Diana Nyad, author of Find a Way

«'Heart wrenching and extraordinary. The Hard Parts is a remarkable memoir of coping with trauma, but it's mostly about courage and achieving the impossible. I'm completely in awe of Oksana and her resilience – what an inspiration.'»

Ariana Neumann, author of When Time Stopped

«'A gut-wrenching, wildly inspiring story about overcoming the most daunting obstacles through steely tenacity, sheer will and a great big dose of motherly love.'»

Jeannette Walls, bestselling author of The Glass Castle

«'Gripping, powerful and inspiring. As a fellow athlete, I appreciate the commitment and discipline it takes to succeed, but Oksana is on another level altogether.'»

Tony Hawk, 16-time X Game Medallist in skateboarding

«'Like all the greats, Oksana lives on the edge of fear and uses every setback she’s ever had to ask more of herself. A revealing parting of the curtain, The Hard Parts is a candid - and often poignant - account of the challenges Oksana overcame along the way to becoming the best ever, and it’s more inspiring than words could ever convey.'»

Mikaela Shiffrin, two-time Olympic Gold Meda'list and four-time Overall World Cup Ski Champion

«'A book of rare quality... In these pages, not only does Oksana Masters triumph over tremendous odds but her victories are so multiple and her courage crosses so many different fronts that she forces us to rethink the term "Greatest Ever". Move aside GOATS and make a place for her.'»

Sally Jenkins, sports columnist for the Washington Post

«'Oksana Masters’ riveting journey of survival, perseverance and triumph is much more than an uplifting sports story. From the darkness and despair of life in a Ukrainian orphanage to the top of the Paralympic medal podium, Masters has written a story for our times. She is a remarkable athlete. She is a heroic and trailblazing woman.'»

Christine Brennan, USA Today columnist, author of Best Seat in the House

«'Oksana's story is emotionally pounding, from her Dickensian childhood in Ukraine's orphanages to promising her mother a gold medal in the Paralympics. The Hard Parts is a street-fight for survival, then success. And it stretches our own notions of just how much we can take.'»

Lesley Visser, Hall of Fame Sportscaster

«'Riveting' »

Donald McRae, Guardian

«‘proves how little most of us know about genuine determination. . . The Hard Parts is shocking only in how it tends to understate the author’s pure bravery’»

The Times, Books of the Year

«'Unexpectedly powerful...I couldn't put this memoir down. It's as true a tale of grit as I've ever heard, with a message filled with triumph and beauty - that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, if we are loved.'»

Angela Duckworth, internationally bestselling author of Grit

«'It’s a story of horror and heroism, of hate and love, of piercing pain and immense, euphoric joy'»

Irish Independent

«'The book is by turns difficult to read and to put down; "triumph over adversity’ barely covers it"'»

Telegraph