10.1k reviews for:

Die Unsterblichkeit der Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot, Sebastian Vogel

4.23 AVERAGE

sophielthomas's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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An example of fabulous scientific communication. Skloot does an amazing job of getting the reader invested in the people as well as the story, so the Lacks family aren’t just reduced down so 2D characters in a story about HeLa cells and ethical violations. I truly can’t recommend enough. 

liketheprotocol's review against another edition

3.0

informative medium-paced

lauramooney's review against another edition

4.25

informative sad medium-paced

stonebraker's review against another edition

5.0

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I just speak enough good about this book. The writer is excellent at taking the common story of scientific progress and problematizing it with race class and ethical dimensions. I felt honored to read it.

mcemily's review against another edition

3.5

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

jesi_nickname's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

alicia_howse's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

cookwithabook's review against another edition

4.0

informative slow-paced

shaymore's review against another edition

5.0

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WOW!!!! This is not a fluffy book but so worth the time to read. It amazes me and am so greatful this book was written. It always surprises me how people used to treat each other because of the color of their skin. Glad I didn't live in those days or even in the days of Hitler. This poor family and what they have had to and still have to go through. What they had to do to find out what really happened to their Mother and Sister. Love how the author wrote the book to let you know what the details were about the cells and who had/did what with them. Also loved that she included the family and told their story. This book would not have been complete without it. Didn't love the end because of what happened to Debrah but understandable. This book is amazing!!!!

nelle_evans's review against another edition

4.0

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“Henrietta’s cells have now been living outside her body far longer than they ever lived inside it.”

I don’t often read non fiction anymore, so this was a change up in my latest reads. It was super interesting and I loved that it wasn’t ~allllll~ science. The relationships that the author built with the family were also very interesting, as were their stories as individuals. The amount of things that have been done with HeLa cells and the research that included them is honestly mind blowing, and I never thought I would be thinking this much about the ethical gray area around tissue rights & consent for them to be used in medical research. V interesting!

“Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multi-million-dollar industry.”