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abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Death, and Cancer
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Grief, and Emotional abuse
becca_w_'s review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Vomit
Minor: Car accident, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Excrement, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
caidyn's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Racism, and Sexual assault
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: Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cancer, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Incest, and Panic attacks/disorders
janice_sumka's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual assault
shaney_swift's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Medical content and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault
foreverinastory's review against another edition
5.0
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.
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
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
spellbound's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
peachani's review against another edition
4.0
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