Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

9 reviews

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

This book tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who had her cells taken when she went into Johns Hopkins Hospital for cancer treatment. The cells which were taken without her consent were then sold and distributed around the world for medical research and are still used today. The fact that this story is real is so troubling. The way the medical community has taken advantage of poor, black and handicapped people in the name of medical advancement is atrocious and it makes perfect sense that many do not trust doctors because of this. 

I did like the way the book was written like a podcast, where we went along with the author to do research and meet with the family members. This keeps the information accessible and easier to understand than dense science talk. I believe this information should be required knowledge in this country, so people, especially the non black can know the depths of racism that exist and understand that this was less than 100 years ago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Incest, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cancer, Chronic illness, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Grief, Incest, Racism, Ableism, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Child abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Slavery, Antisemitism, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Genocide

Minor: Deadnaming and War

arttichokedipp's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Classism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Violence, Pregnancy, 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: 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

franklola's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

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, 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

steffk's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Slavery and Incest