Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

63 reviews

zams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

English: Definitly the best book I've read so far.
The telling of the stories as well as  the presentation of the researched data was incredible. As somebody who only learned English as a 2nd language I was a little nervous about the presence of authentic language, but it made the whole bok just a lot more real and therefor enjoyable.
An absolutely outstanding work by everybody that contributed. This is not just a book about science but also one that transfers heavy emotins right through the pages.

Deutsch:  Definitiv eines der besten Bücher die ich bisher gelesen habe.
Das Erzähle der Geschichten genauso wie die Präsentation der gesammelten Daten sind unvergleichlich.
Ich hatte zuerst etwas Respekt vor der Tatsache dass authentische Sprache in dem Buch verwendet wird, allerdings war das Verständnis absolut kein Problem, und gab der Geschichte das gewisse etwas, dass sie so persönlich macht. Ich weiß nicht wie diese Parts in der deutschen Übersetzung wirken.
Definitv eine herausragende Arbeit von allen, die daran mitgewirkt haben. 
Nicht nur ein Buch über Wissenschaft, sondern auch eines dass es schafft, heftige Emotionen durch die Seiten zum Leser zu transportieren.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction

spicewitch's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

kj_reads's review against another edition

Rebecca Skloot literally is no different from any of those other reporters and journalists that were bothering this family. Some of this book focuses on Skloot's journey to find information about the HeLa cells and the Lacks family. After I realized that, I wanted to push through just to keep getting more info about the Lacks family and their fight for compensation (which was something that was discussed) and ownership over the cells, but then I found out that Skloot barely gave any money to the family from what was generated from the book. Like you've got to be kidding me, you mean to tell me you invaded this family's life and used them just so you could write a book about them and their experiences, and you barely even compensated them. It felt very white savior-y. I found/find that super disgusting and I couldn't bring myself to continue reading after that honestly. Also, I really hated the way that she talked about some of the family members. I can't remember exactly what was said since I'm writing this so much later from when I stopped reading, but I remember negative descriptions being used in times where it was 100% not necessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

rumay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

myantigone's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

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

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

franklola's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

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

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