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awdrummer's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
enterprisingyoungman's review against another edition
5.0
Skloot is a great storyteller, gathering and synthesizing multiple perspectives.
rozencrantz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
frostap's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. Parts of this book were compelling and fascinating. That one woman's cancer tissue has been instrumental in cell culture research worldwide is pretty cool. That her family didn't find out for twenty-five years is unfortunate. That Henrietta's children were illiterate and so confused about what scientists were actually doing with the cells was tragic. All of these elements made for interesting reading.
I have two complaints. First, Skloot's depiction of herself as noble white rescuer saving the downtrodden Lackses from their own misfortune was off putting. She could've laid off the "I'm a skinny agnostic" references. Also, the ending was abrupt and dissatisfying, followed by an abrupt afterword about controversial tissue collection, which could've been integrated into the final chapters.
Despite my complaining, I did really like the book, especially the parts about Henrietta and the early days of HeLa (and Christoph, who was pretty great).
I have two complaints. First, Skloot's depiction of herself as noble white rescuer saving the downtrodden Lackses from their own misfortune was off putting. She could've laid off the "I'm a skinny agnostic" references. Also, the ending was abrupt and dissatisfying, followed by an abrupt afterword about controversial tissue collection, which could've been integrated into the final chapters.
Despite my complaining, I did really like the book, especially the parts about Henrietta and the early days of HeLa (and Christoph, who was pretty great).