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udari's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Suicide
jayisreading's review against another edition
3.75
I’ve been thinking about a quote from the book that really highlights the frustration one may feel about the Lacks family’s situation: “She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?“ I felt so much anger reading this book, not so much because of the topic, but because of the injustices that Henrietta Lacks, her family and, really, the Black community have faced. There’s a lot in this book to digest— Despite my concerns, I think there’s a lot of important information that makes this book worth reading in the end.
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault
Minor: Incest
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Abandonment
kaceyatwood's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
becca_w_'s review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, and Car accident
caidyn's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent
booksjessreads's review against another edition
5.0
Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old black woman with 5 children when she died from cervical cancer. Howard Jones, her doctor, took a sample of her cancer without her knowledge or consent and shipped it off to a lab where it kept growing and growing. Researchers took advantage of this, but kept Henrietta's family in the dark about medical research taking place because of her.
Rebecca Skloot tells this story so amazingly. Half of the book is Skloot telling us how she acquired the information about Henrietta, and the other half is telling us about Henrietta's life, all combined to make the book. Skloot does the story justice, showing the hardship the family faced in light of all the secrets kept from them. She talks about the ethics of taking cells without consent, the crippling racism the family faced in 1950s America, and centre's the voices of the family and Henrietta, rather than imposing her own narrative throughout the story.
A side note that half of the proceeds of the book go to Henrietta's family. The family didn't receive a single penny of the medical research or sales of Henrietta's cells, so if you ever get a chance to read the book, I encourage you to buy it (if you didn't need encouraging enough!)
Honestly such an incredible read and certainly one of my absolute favourites this year!
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
janice_sumka's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault
shaney_swift's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual assault