Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

海拉細胞的不死傳奇 by Rebecca Skloot

6 reviews

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

5.0

this book....i really dont know what i can say about it. i learned SO MUCH about something i had never even head of before picking it up, and it was both fascinating and heartbreaking to read about all of it. i wish all the best for hentrietta lacks family and hope that her and those of her family who have passed are resting easily <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Incest, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Racial slurs, Abortion, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Slavery, and Terminal illness

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

rumay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Incest, Infertility, and Infidelity

becca_w_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

mandi4886's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

marieketron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.0

I felt very ambivalent about this book and my rating of it dropped the more of it I read. It's an important book to read but the execution could have been a lot better.

the good bits

• the science history
• discussions on science ethics, especially in regards to informed consent
• the life history of Henrietta
• overview of the scientific controversies related to HeLa
• life of the Lacks family and how they relate to Henrietta and HeLa

the not so good bits

• clearly the story of Henrietta and HeLa is important and needs to be told, but at the same time the Lacks family did not reach out to reporters or writers in order for the story to be told. It calls into question whether we have the right to a story just because it's important and regardless of the people connected to it, which very closely ties in with the type of issues the book itself is discussing.
• this issue is emphasised by the author continuously inserting herself into the narrative, to the point of almost making herself up like a White Saviour. i skipped through the last few chapters where the we are learning everything about Deborah from the author's perspective. It is important for Henrietta's family to have a clear voice in this work, but it could have been done in a way that didn't include the author.
• specific for the audiobook version, I felt very uncomfortable with the accents the narrator used to give form to the Lacks family, other Black people, and a few Asian and German characters. this issue is especially egregious because Bahni Turpin was contracted as one of the two narrators but only used very sparingly and extremely inconsistently. She would have been the perfect voice for Henrietta's daughter Deborah, but she only reads the occasional direct quote from her. I can remember three instances throughout the book where the narrator is Turpin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Vomit, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infertility, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Cancer

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Slavery