Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

27 reviews

jodean's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Ableism, Racism, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Infertility, Cursing, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Infidelity

Minor: Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Suicide

memento_vivere's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Medical content, Racism, Chronic illness, and Rape

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Slavery, Ableism, and Alcohol

saskiahill's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Fascinating and moving

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Addiction, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide and Incest

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Racism, Death, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Slavery, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

christineolivia's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cancer, and Medical content

Moderate: Slavery and Medical trauma

grboph's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I had to read part of this book as part of a project on bioethics for an anatomy and physiology class, but it was so interesting and well-written that I decided to read the entire thing. I'm very glad I did!! The story of Henrietta Lacks, her cells, and her family is a very fascinating one, and Skloot tells it very well. I really liked that she included herself as a secondary "character" in the book - this served to make the rest of the events of the story and the people she met seem more real because her interactions with them were documented. I learned so much from reading this book about cell biology, genetics, bioethics and its history, medical racism, and so many other things. It's very important this book exists, as it tells the story of a woman whose life affects everybody (due to how ubiquitous HeLa cells are) and how the way she was treated by Johns Hopkins doctors affected her and her family. It also raises a lot of very important points about informed consent and financial compensation, and how attitudes about these things have shifted over time. This was a very informative and well-crafted book, and I would recommend it to just about anyone, but especially anybody who is interested in medicine, biology, and bioethics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Slavery, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Antisemitism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

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

kayjayelle's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, Slavery, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Rape

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

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.