Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

海拉細胞的不死傳奇 by Rebecca Skloot

118 reviews

smellymiche's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

ejthephoenix's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! I’m so happy that Henrietta and her family have finally gotten some recognition after all this time and get to tell their story. I’m also really glad that this book is being included in my class at our school. I would definitely recommend reading this book no matter what you like to read! :) Non-fiction, fiction, science, theories, biographies, realistic fiction, and even non realistic fiction lovers will love this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Racism, Rape, Cursing, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Outing, and Blood

alliejuve's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Incest, Medical content, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, and Sexual violence

Minor: Slavery

hanlov's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Cancer, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism

emblazedwords's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This book was so emotional and so well done. It was more than just a book on these immortal cells and how they were wrongly taken: it was also a history of the Lacks family themselves. Skloot gave us an intimate history on Henrietta as well as family, how her children were impacted by her death, and how they came to understand her legacy. 

I didn't realize until reading this book how new the concept of medical consent is. I also got more background history on Black people and their relationship with medicine, how it's hurt them and made them distrustful.

Definitely worth the hype!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Forced institutionalization

angela_iseli's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Death, Medical trauma, Racism, and Death of parent

danileah07's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Grief and Racism

Minor: Incest and Medical content

cj13's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child death, Cancer, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

informative inspiring

4.5

"If our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors?"

This story is part history text, science text, and biographical story, that keeps the reader engaged. It's heartbreaking to read what the family went through in their lifetime, but the developing friendship between Deborah and Rebecca was inspiring and heartfelt to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical content, Cancer, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse

oceanwriter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Thanks to random YouTube rabbit holes, I was somewhat familiar with Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells going into this book. Had I realized there was a book at the time, I would have read this a lot sooner. 

 

The book discusses Henrietta Lacks’ life and death, the discovery of her extraordinary cells, the controversy surrounding the acquisition of those cells, and the author’s quest to make this woman known to the world. There’s also a great deal of focus on Henrietta’s children and the impact of her death and legacy on them. 

 

There’s a great mix of science and emotional family history. I do wish that the book had separated these things more, maybe telling Henrietta’s life all in one section before moving on to the author’s pursuit of her story (or vice versa). As it is, the first section of the book is back and forth from past to present. Thankfully, it smoothes out as the book goes on and the focus shifts to the present and her living children. 

 

Fascinating stuff here. It’s mind-blowing to me that anyone reading the book could access these cells at the click of a button. It breaks my heart that her family didn’t receive any of the revenue, especially when they had their own medical bills to pay. Even without the discovery of HeLa cells, their family story is one to be told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Child abuse

Minor: Incest