Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

54 reviews

hubes's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child death, and Grief

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Incest, Murder, Slavery, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Child death, Mental illness, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, and Alcohol

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the type of book that sticks with you and sits in the back of your brain, being relevant in the least expected situations. The writing draws the reader in and tells the story in a way that makes it feel personal to each individual. More than that the lives and struggles of Henrietta and her family being immortalized as they are in this book, shine a light on the parts of history the written record strives to forget.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Classism, Grief, and Incest

franklola's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Death, Chronic illness, Grief, Incest, Physical abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

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

sidekicksam's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Part education about the HeLa cells and their contribution to the pharmaceutical and medical field, part account of the journey of the Lackses have undertaken together with 'their reporter' Miss Rebecca, to discover more about the life of their mother Henrietta. Despite HeLa's invaluable contribution to the advancement in medicine, the family she left behind is left with nothing but questions.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, learning about medical practices in the fifties (and their very unethical conduct), the advancement of science thanks to nameless and uninformed 'donors,' and the life of a woman made immortal by her cancer-cells. Instead of reading as a boring non-fiction novel, Skloot's decision to involve the quest for the truth she went on (mainly with Deborah/Dale) made it so much more heartwarming to read. 

I consider this to be essential reading for everyone working in medicine/pharma and have a good hard look at the ethics of the use of cells without informed consent. I'd recommend this book to anyone. 

Easy 5 stars! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

betttyy8's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Grief, Racism, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Incest

creationwing's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I wasn't a huge fan of the attempts at Chinese and Austrian accents by the audiobook reader. It felt off in a book with themes so closely tied to facing racism. It didn't help that they weren't very well done, either.

There were moments when the book seemed a little too voyeuristic for my taste; I'm not sure that all the details included were necessary for me to learn about this historic figure, her family's struggles, and have understanding of the suffering and unjustice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, Violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Body horror, Cancer, Medical trauma, Racism, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Death of parent, Slavery, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Incest, Drug abuse, and Deadnaming

There are detailed descriptions of the autopsies of

Henrietta and her daughter Elsie

, which may be disturbing to some people. I certainly had to pause the audiobook to mentally prepare myself.

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

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

A few days after finishing this book, I’m still struggling to work out how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I’m incredibly grateful that I got to learn so much about Henrietta Lacks, HeLa, as well as the circumstances and history surrounding Lacks and her cells. I don’t venture into science-related books very often, but this one was engaging. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something exploitative about the book, even if Skloot received consent from the Lacks family and everything. I don’t know if it was the way she inserted herself into this narrative or what, but something felt off. I also can’t help but wonder how much financial compensation the Lacks family received for their contributions to this book, as well as from the movie that was made a few years later. From what I’ve gathered on Skloot’s website, it seems like they have, but again, how much?

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Incest