Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

31 reviews

amcghig's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Chronic illness

anushar's review

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I read this book because I bought it to make myself smarter and ended up reading it for a school project. I usually avoid nonfiction books like the plague, but this one was pretty good. You don’t need to know a lot about science to read it, and it tells an important story, so I would recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Incest, Medical content, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Death, Child abuse, and Child death

udari's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, and Cancer

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, Cursing, Infidelity, Alcohol, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Suicide and Bullying

elizabethgreads's review

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed the way this book was told.  It flips back and forth between the science, history, and ethics of tissue and cell culture and the Life of Henrietta Lacks and her family. This is an incredibility important story that I think everyone should read.  The author does a great job of describing scientific terms in such away that the reader can understand without having much knowledge on the subject. I enjoyed the exploration of the topics of informed consent, medical privacy, research ethics, and commercialization of human cell products.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Moderate: Dementia, Mental illness, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

coreyarch9's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

"'[It] hit me for the first time that those cells we’d been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a live woman.'"

I recently reread The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks since it's my book club's pick for this month.

My life has changed a lot since I first read the book a few years ago and, as such, a few things hit differently this time around. For one, Henrietta was 31 when she died. Now in my thirties, myself, this detail stood out so much more. Additionally, I've since benefitted greatly from the lifesaving diagnostic testing that her cells specifically helped develop. Throughout the book, I couldn't help but reflect on some of my own health challenges from the past year, which at times were triggering.

Just as during my previous read, I often went straight to Wikipedia to learn more. Specifically, as I was looking up historical information on John Hopkins, I got the clearest sense of deja vu, a confirmation that similar details and curiosities stood out to me both times.

I'm am looking forward to my book club's discussion later this month. If you've read this book, then you understand the hodgepodge of thoughts and reactions that I'm currently experiencing.

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My original review:
This book had been on my list since I first heard about it on NPR and WOW DID I LEARN A LOT. I found myself scouring through Wikipedia pages more than a few times over the course of reading. My only criticism is that sometimes the author gets caught up in describing her process for investigating Henrietta Lacks and forgets to progress the story. This book is for anybody who enjoys ethical debates, cares about social issues, and enjoys medical dramas/family dramas/ literally any type of drama.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Racism, Cancer, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

Minor: Murder, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Slavery

foreverinastory's review against another edition

emotional informative sad

5.0

Everyone should read this book, but especially the scientific field.

CWs: Abandonment, ableism, addiction, blood, cancer, child abuse, chronic illness, death, death of parent, drug abuse/use, emotional abuse, fatphobia, forced institutionalization, grief, incest, infidelity, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness (PTSD), physical abuse, pedophilia, pregnancy, racial slurs, racism, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual harassment, terminal illness, vomit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Vomit, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

klfgasaway's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

vampiretree's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

peachani's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Stalking

eflatkey's review

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Racism

Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault