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abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Death, and Cancer
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Incest, Grief, and Emotional abuse
becca_w_'s review against another edition
3.75
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
5.0
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
klfgasaway's review against another edition
4.75
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
ericadansereau's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, and Cancer
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault
larebe's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism
marieketron's review against another edition
2.0
the good bits
- the science history
- discussions on science ethics, especially in regards to informed consent
- the life history of Henrietta
- overview of the scientific controversies related to HeLa
- life of the Lacks family and how they relate to Henrietta and HeLa
the not so good bits
- clearly the story of Henrietta and HeLa is important and needs to be told, but at the same time the Lacks family did not reach out to reporters or writers in order for the story to be told. It calls into question whether we have the right to a story just because it's important and regardless of the people connected to it, which very closely ties in with the type of issues the book itself is discussing.
- this issue is emphasised by the author continuously inserting herself into the narrative, to the point of almost making herself up like a White Saviour. i skipped through the last few chapters where the we are learning everything about Deborah from the author's perspective. It is important for Henrietta's family to have a clear voice in this work, but it could have been done in a way that didn't include the author.
- specific for the audiobook version, I felt very uncomfortable with the accents the narrator used to give form to the Lacks family, other Black people, and a few Asian and German characters. this issue is especially egregious because Bahni Turpin was contracted as one of the two narrators but only used very sparingly and extremely inconsistently. She would have been the perfect voice for Henrietta's daughter Deborah, but she only reads the occasional direct quote from her. I can remember three instances throughout the book where the narrator is Turpin.
Graphic: Incest, Vomit, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infertility, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Cancer
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Slavery