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badbookstagrammer's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
petrock28's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-paced
5.0
tomleetang's review against another edition
4.0
Had to power through the prologue, which was painful, like something written for a 12 year old, with the repetitiveness to match. This is baaaad writing, the kind of mawkish stuff that is desperate to make itself seem interesting and meaningful.
What's so strange about this desperation is that it's entirely unnecessary, as the main book is, in fact, interesting and meaningful. It's also well written, balancing the human interest side of things with a more general discussion about the way cell cultures have helped to cure diseases and the ethics behind using human samples without express consent.
Skoot isn't the first to tell the Lacks story, but this 21st-century retreading of 20th-century ground shines a light on the way attitudes towards medical ethics and race has changed in the past few decades.
In contrast to the prologue, the afterword is fascinating - maybe I would have preferred a whole book that was purely about the history of cell cultivation and it's use in vaccines, cancer treatments, and so much more.
Then again, without hearing the human side of the story, would I have felt quite so passionately about the debate over the ownership of cells and the ethics surrounding tissue research? Perhaps not.
What's so strange about this desperation is that it's entirely unnecessary, as the main book is, in fact, interesting and meaningful. It's also well written, balancing the human interest side of things with a more general discussion about the way cell cultures have helped to cure diseases and the ethics behind using human samples without express consent.
Skoot isn't the first to tell the Lacks story, but this 21st-century retreading of 20th-century ground shines a light on the way attitudes towards medical ethics and race has changed in the past few decades.
In contrast to the prologue, the afterword is fascinating - maybe I would have preferred a whole book that was purely about the history of cell cultivation and it's use in vaccines, cancer treatments, and so much more.
Then again, without hearing the human side of the story, would I have felt quite so passionately about the debate over the ownership of cells and the ethics surrounding tissue research? Perhaps not.
rozeyh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75