Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

34 reviews

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

rebekah_l's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Incest, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

hshinn21's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Truly one of the best, most informative, and gut-wrenching books I've ever read. I'm glad it's become famous because I think everyone should know this story. 

But you should know: this book might be difficult to read. It was for me at some points. It talks frankly, but not grotesquely, of many terrible things: and this is part of what makes it so important. I started listing content warnings below and the list looks a little bit overwhelming at first glance. So know your limits, and be prepared. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

maya_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Racial slurs

Minor: Child abuse

kennedybullen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide

academicanko's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Henrietta Lacks is a name unknown to most, however, she may be the most important women to medical science of all time. She was a black woman living in the south in America. Henrietta Lacks had cancer tissue cultures taken from her without her consent and those cells became the first ever immortal cells. 

She later died after those cultures were taken.

Her cells are used to create vaccines and medicines to this day. They were even use to help develop the corona virus vaccines. However, her family has not seen a cent of this money. This book goes over the author and her interactions with the family and the research the cells have supported. She mostly speaks with the youngest daughter, Deborah Lacks. Deborah did not know much about her mother and her older sister, Elsie. This family's plight and trauma is vast. They have been harassed and abused. They have a plethora of health concerns but cannot afford insurance. I cried throughout this book just thinking about their circumstances. 

This books opens the conversation to consent and much more. What does research allow and does my autonomous rights cover cells? Now technology is advanced enough to understand DNA. Is it really okay to have my DNA abused in ways I have no control? Who should get compensation? Hasn't commercialization of pharmaceuticals hindered science more than helped it? America has always had a horrible situation when it comes to health care and insurance. It is one of the reasons I live abroad. 

When doing more research on this book, I have noticed that many criticize the author for her way of approaching the family. I later learned that this book has challenged to be banned from some states. I have also found that the remaining family did not like the way the family was portrayed in the book. I like to believe that the author had gotten the consent of Deborah when planning this book and that the things she included were important to her as a descendent of Henrietta. I like to think and I really hope that the authors intentions were true. I think this story is very important and one that must be more widely known. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Mental illness

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, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, and Car accident

coreyarch9's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

"'[It] hit me for the first time that those cells we’d been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a live woman.'"

I recently reread The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks since it's my book club's pick for this month.

My life has changed a lot since I first read the book a few years ago and, as such, a few things hit differently this time around. For one, Henrietta was 31 when she died. Now in my thirties, myself, this detail stood out so much more. Additionally, I've since benefitted greatly from the lifesaving diagnostic testing that her cells specifically helped develop. Throughout the book, I couldn't help but reflect on some of my own health challenges from the past year, which at times were triggering.

Just as during my previous read, I often went straight to Wikipedia to learn more. Specifically, as I was looking up historical information on John Hopkins, I got the clearest sense of deja vu, a confirmation that similar details and curiosities stood out to me both times.

I'm am looking forward to my book club's discussion later this month. If you've read this book, then you understand the hodgepodge of thoughts and reactions that I'm currently experiencing.

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My original review:
This book had been on my list since I first heard about it on NPR and WOW DID I LEARN A LOT. I found myself scouring through Wikipedia pages more than a few times over the course of reading. My only criticism is that sometimes the author gets caught up in describing her process for investigating Henrietta Lacks and forgets to progress the story. This book is for anybody who enjoys ethical debates, cares about social issues, and enjoys medical dramas/family dramas/ literally any type of drama.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racial slurs and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Murder

mandi4886's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

foreverinastory's review against another edition

emotional informative sad

5.0

Everyone should read this book, but especially the scientific field.

CWs: Abandonment, ableism, addiction, blood, cancer, child abuse, chronic illness, death, death of parent, drug abuse/use, emotional abuse, fatphobia, forced institutionalization, grief, incest, infidelity, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness (PTSD), physical abuse, pedophilia, pregnancy, racial slurs, racism, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual harassment, terminal illness, vomit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment