Scan barcode
prettypious's review against another edition
5.0
I avoided this book for a long time. I felt like I knew the Henrietta Lacks story really well, and I was aware the author was a white woman so I didn't have a longing for the book because I didnt think there would be too much new info added. By the time I had read 15% of the book, I realized I knew the story of Henrietta Lacks but I was not aware of everything she and her family had been through. I do think it's problematic that the family members were not able to write their own book and tell their own stories; however, it seems from the book that she did a lot of research, used a lot of primary sources, and engaged in countless interviews with the family, especially the youngest daughter, Deborah, who unfortunately passed away the day the books were released for preorder. This is important only because you have to trust that she felt that the author convey her story and experiences the way that she told it.
Ok getting that all of that out of the way this was a really good book. It is written almost as two books in one---one the scientific/technical part that explains the HeLa cells and the importance of Henrietta Lacks' cells to the science community and how they used it to improve public health. The other is this other ugly story of racism in the U.S. institutions, specifically the medical field. This part was really REALLY hard to read especially when they talk about the mistreatment of Ms. Henrietta Lacks and her daughter Elsie, the exploitation of the family by those trying to take advantage of them, the pain they dealt with related to losing their mom and also having the government and Hopkins play in their faces with their constant attempts to dehumanize and their moms. It was a lot.
Two parts of the book are going to stick with me for awhile. One, when the author and Deborah visit facility where her sister Elsie was committed up through when Pastor Pullum walker her down and when the scientist at Hopkins showed Deborah and her brother Zachariyya, Henrietta Lacks' youngest son, their mother's cells and explained how to use the microscope to view it and then explained the actual cell and what they were seeing.
Ok getting that all of that out of the way this was a really good book. It is written almost as two books in one---one the scientific/technical part that explains the HeLa cells and the importance of Henrietta Lacks' cells to the science community and how they used it to improve public health. The other is this other ugly story of racism in the U.S. institutions, specifically the medical field. This part was really REALLY hard to read especially when they talk about the mistreatment of Ms. Henrietta Lacks and her daughter Elsie, the exploitation of the family by those trying to take advantage of them, the pain they dealt with related to losing their mom and also having the government and Hopkins play in their faces with their constant attempts to dehumanize and their moms. It was a lot.
Two parts of the book are going to stick with me for awhile. One, when the author and Deborah visit facility where her sister Elsie was committed up through when Pastor Pullum walker her down and when the scientist at Hopkins showed Deborah and her brother Zachariyya, Henrietta Lacks' youngest son, their mother's cells and explained how to use the microscope to view it and then explained the actual cell and what they were seeing.
mitskacir's review against another edition
2.0
I learned a lot from this book, so perhaps I should round up for that, but I can't say I enjoyed it. In fact, this book was quite uncomfortable to read. I wish I had someone to talk to about it, because I'm not sure if my discomfort is something about me or something about the book. Mainly, I was uncomfortable with how in depth this book went into describing Henrietta's descendants - I often felt like we, as readers, were given too much information in a way that diminished the dignity of the Lacks. On the one hand, Skloot clearly showed the family has a lot of challenges - they live in poverty, have a variety of physical and mental health issues, have experienced domestic and sexual abuse, don't have access to education, many of them have committed crimes and been incarcerated, etc. - and this helped the reader understand their justifiable paranoia, mistrust, and anger toward medical, scientific, and governmental institutions. However, I felt like this could have been done without some of the detailed descriptions of their mental breakdowns, manic episodes, curse-laden tirades, their own medical conditions, etc. I felt uncomfortable reading about these very personal parts of their lives, and could not image myself wanting these scenes depicted in a book was it about me.
I did learn a lot about HeLa cells and I think the book is important in that it humanizes Henrietta Lacks herself and gives context to the dubious scientific and medical practices that were acceptable and commonplace at the time. I was fascinated to learn more about the medical breakthroughs that have been achieved with HeLa cells, and wish these parts were more descriptive and scientific (a criticism I often have of pop-sci pieces). But most of the book actually was not about HeLa cells or Henrietta, but rather about her descendants. If this had been executed differently, I think this is a good inclusion, but as it stands it left a bad taste in my mouth.
For comparison, I wish this book was more like [b:The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures|12609|The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures|Anne Fadiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432610033l/12609._SY75_.jpg|14895], which I think does a much better, kinder, more humanizing job of describing people who live in poverty, lack education, distrust western medicine, and struggle with health issues.
I did learn a lot about HeLa cells and I think the book is important in that it humanizes Henrietta Lacks herself and gives context to the dubious scientific and medical practices that were acceptable and commonplace at the time. I was fascinated to learn more about the medical breakthroughs that have been achieved with HeLa cells, and wish these parts were more descriptive and scientific (a criticism I often have of pop-sci pieces). But most of the book actually was not about HeLa cells or Henrietta, but rather about her descendants. If this had been executed differently, I think this is a good inclusion, but as it stands it left a bad taste in my mouth.
For comparison, I wish this book was more like [b:The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures|12609|The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures|Anne Fadiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432610033l/12609._SY75_.jpg|14895], which I think does a much better, kinder, more humanizing job of describing people who live in poverty, lack education, distrust western medicine, and struggle with health issues.
anjalisudarsan's review against another edition
5.0
I never thought I'd binge-read a non-fiction book, but here we are! I picked this book up out of curiosity about Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cells are behind many of today's (effective) medication but was unknown for a long time.
This book not only traced Henrietta's life, like a biography, but also talks in depth about the cells and the laws behind consent that changed from the 60s to today. Back then, the concept of consent and bioethics was basically non-existent, which is still unfair to the Lacks family. They deserved to know.
The author also does a lot more than talk about the science bit, she follows Deborah, Henrietta's daughter and really shares a real picture of their lives - it's almost like we were reading her diary. Throughout the book, I also got to learn about the various challenges black people had to face with the medical industry (it is definitely an industry, there is clearly no non-selfish motive behind doctors and hospitals) - from tests that risked their lives, out-right not receiving healthcare and just a lot of biases. It was a bit sad to hear that the family ironically couldn't receive healthcare because of the high costs - again, the selfishness of the medical industry makes one question a lot of things, whether only the privileged can access good healthcare.
At the end, I just question the ethics of the medical industry, and the sheer selfishness and greed involved. Are these people really looking for the betterment of mankind, or are they just looking to grow their wallets? Real questions.
This book not only traced Henrietta's life, like a biography, but also talks in depth about the cells and the laws behind consent that changed from the 60s to today. Back then, the concept of consent and bioethics was basically non-existent, which is still unfair to the Lacks family. They deserved to know.
The author also does a lot more than talk about the science bit, she follows Deborah, Henrietta's daughter and really shares a real picture of their lives - it's almost like we were reading her diary. Throughout the book, I also got to learn about the various challenges black people had to face with the medical industry (it is definitely an industry, there is clearly no non-selfish motive behind doctors and hospitals) - from tests that risked their lives, out-right not receiving healthcare and just a lot of biases. It was a bit sad to hear that the family ironically couldn't receive healthcare because of the high costs - again, the selfishness of the medical industry makes one question a lot of things, whether only the privileged can access good healthcare.
At the end, I just question the ethics of the medical industry, and the sheer selfishness and greed involved. Are these people really looking for the betterment of mankind, or are they just looking to grow their wallets? Real questions.
feralsarah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Everyone needs to read this
caffeinatedreader_reviews's review against another edition
4.0
A heartbreaking but page-turning read that I hope more people will read.