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nataliect13's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
middleditch's review
3.0
Incredibly important subject that I knew nothing about. But the author got in the way at times and I was very confused who all the people were - cousins, aunts & uncles, grandchildren, scientists, doctors, etc.
kellyhager's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like the last person who hasn't read this book. I think at least five different people have recommended it to me (from coworkers to my aunt) and if it hadn't ultimately been a book club pick, I'm not sure I would have read it. I didn't love it the way everyone else seems to, but it's a great book and I'm glad I read it. Even if it was under protest.
In case you also haven't read it, Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman living in Baltimore in the early 1950s. She wasn't very well educated and people of that time (especially poor people) tended to do whatever the doctors wanted without questioning or even trying to make sure they understood what was going on. She had cervical cancer and doctors took samples of that cancer and her cells without asking. Henrietta later died, but the cancer cells never did. Ever since they were taken, they've kept growing and dividing. Her cells helped cure polio and have been studied by scientists all over the world.
That's all well and good, except her children and grandchildren haven't received any compensation. Biomedical companies have gotten rich but her family can't even really afford to go to the doctor. And since most of them aren't very well-educated either, they're not entirely sure exactly what some of this even means. Her daughter (who was only a toddler when Henrietta died) was convinced that her mom was cloned and there are a lot of Henriettas walking around someplace.
I don't understand why (a) they weren't compensated or (b) at the very least, someone couldn't sit down with them and explain the science stuff behind the cell harvesting. (Before Rebecca Skloot, I mean.)
This is an incredibly good book, but it ultimately left me cold. I didn't really care about the science aspect (although I did understand it all, which I was worried about---my brain doesn't really lend itself well to science and math) but I loved the parts about her family.
In case you also haven't read it, Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman living in Baltimore in the early 1950s. She wasn't very well educated and people of that time (especially poor people) tended to do whatever the doctors wanted without questioning or even trying to make sure they understood what was going on. She had cervical cancer and doctors took samples of that cancer and her cells without asking. Henrietta later died, but the cancer cells never did. Ever since they were taken, they've kept growing and dividing. Her cells helped cure polio and have been studied by scientists all over the world.
That's all well and good, except her children and grandchildren haven't received any compensation. Biomedical companies have gotten rich but her family can't even really afford to go to the doctor. And since most of them aren't very well-educated either, they're not entirely sure exactly what some of this even means. Her daughter (who was only a toddler when Henrietta died) was convinced that her mom was cloned and there are a lot of Henriettas walking around someplace.
I don't understand why (a) they weren't compensated or (b) at the very least, someone couldn't sit down with them and explain the science stuff behind the cell harvesting. (Before Rebecca Skloot, I mean.)
This is an incredibly good book, but it ultimately left me cold. I didn't really care about the science aspect (although I did understand it all, which I was worried about---my brain doesn't really lend itself well to science and math) but I loved the parts about her family.
ellenreading_theend's review against another edition
2.0
This is such an important story that absolutely needs to be told, and I learned so much from it, not just about Henrietta, but about the injustice of what happened to her family. That being said, it took me a long time to read it, I think because I wasn’t a huge fan of the author’s writing style. I was a copy editor for 10 years, and a big part of me wanted to cut huge swaths out of this book — parts felt tangential and distracting from the main issues, and I actually wanted more science! That being said, I’m glad I pushed through, and this is a good read for anyone who feels like they need to learn more about income disparity or how the effects of racism can have long lasting impacts on families through generations.
beyondbookishkate's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. My first science read. Moving, fascinating and heartbreaking. Definitely check this one out!
jsender's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly can't believe I hadn't read this book, but I'm so glad I finally did, even though it was absolutely infuriating almost the entire time. I was so upset about the way Henrietta was treated, and how the Lackses have been treated, and how they basically have no options for recourse. When Henrietta's son and daughter finally get to see her cells in a lab at John Hopkins, I cried. I think the author did a good job weaving the past and present, and I learned a lot about cancer and disease, and about cells and how they function that I definitely did not learn in high school bio. Definitely recommend.
davida's review against another edition
5.0
So interesting and well written. My only minor gripe is that the author inserted herself REALLY heavily into the narrative, but I'm not sure how she would have avoided it, so I guess that was fine.
natyjaeger's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting topic and raising such complex questions... if you normally like fiction and would like to try non-fiction, I think you'd really like this book! It has such a powerful story.
muchthatisfair's review against another edition
4.0
What a marvellous read. I was rapt from start to finish.
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
5.0
The story flips between the 1950s of Henrietta Lacks and the late 1990s early 2000s of the authors quest to find the story behind the cells that are so important to modern science, particularly medicine.
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer in the south. A woman who was sure something was wrong but was ignored at first, and her cells harvested for what she thought was a test about her cancer but turned out to be part of a project to try to get cells to grow. Her cells turned out to be perfect, actually almost too perfect, they are actually invading other cultures!
She died of the cancer, her cells have gone on to be a multi-million dollar industry and her family have never seen anything from it, not even healthcare to any meaningful degree, all they've seen really has been things that have convinced them that indeed the medical industry in the US is discriminatory and cares more about the relationship they have with their famous mother's cells than about them.
It's an indictment of the way people are treated and a sad comment on how one woman, poor, black and ill-treated by life, was so failed during her life but has given so much back to science. A woman they even forgot or called by the wrong name for years. A woman who should never be forgotten.
It's worth the read, even if there are some cringeworthy moments with Henrietta's Daughter Deborah but it does say a lot about the life Henrietta must have led. We can only hope that she will remain remembered and maybe, just maybe, achieve some sort of immortality outside her cells.
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer in the south. A woman who was sure something was wrong but was ignored at first, and her cells harvested for what she thought was a test about her cancer but turned out to be part of a project to try to get cells to grow. Her cells turned out to be perfect, actually almost too perfect, they are actually invading other cultures!
She died of the cancer, her cells have gone on to be a multi-million dollar industry and her family have never seen anything from it, not even healthcare to any meaningful degree, all they've seen really has been things that have convinced them that indeed the medical industry in the US is discriminatory and cares more about the relationship they have with their famous mother's cells than about them.
It's an indictment of the way people are treated and a sad comment on how one woman, poor, black and ill-treated by life, was so failed during her life but has given so much back to science. A woman they even forgot or called by the wrong name for years. A woman who should never be forgotten.
It's worth the read, even if there are some cringeworthy moments with Henrietta's Daughter Deborah but it does say a lot about the life Henrietta must have led. We can only hope that she will remain remembered and maybe, just maybe, achieve some sort of immortality outside her cells.