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kennedybullen's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Racial slurs, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, and Child abuse
Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Incest, and Suicide
creationwing's review against another edition
4.25
There were moments when the book seemed a little too voyeuristic for my taste; I'm not sure that all the details included were necessary for me to learn about this historic figure, her family's struggles, and have understanding of the suffering and unjustice.
Graphic: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, Violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Body horror, Cancer, Medical trauma, Racism, and Confinement
Moderate: Vomit, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Death of parent, Slavery, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Infidelity, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Incest, Drug abuse, and Deadnaming
There are detailed descriptions of the autopsies ofjcstokes95's review against another edition
3.5
Truly, this book is horror after horror. But I feel like I gained an even clearer understanding of the racial bias in the medical system. And the incredible importance of patient consent, which still seems to be an issue in regards to tissue ownership. Skloot does a very good job giving you digestible chunks of medical history. I found the portions about the Lacks family very hard to read. This book was very slow for me because there is only so much sexual abuse, racism, incest, death, etc. that I could take at a time. But I appreciate that Skloot doesn't seem to shy away from the hard truths about the family. Like them or not though, every person has a right to consent and every family has a right to privacy in their medical dealings. Neither of these was given to this family.
The part in this book that wavers for me is the last portion. I don't mind Skloot inserting herself into the narrative, but I found a lot of the focus on Deborah's health to be difficult to read, and not additive. I also do think there are some weird ethical implications of taking a person that fragile and pushing them to do traumatic work. Particularly when you are White and will profit directly, and they are Black and will not. But, the Lacks family seems to trust her and I am glad in some way they felt they had a champion to tell the story for them. A mixed bag and a hard read, but I feel I learned something new in every part.
Moderate: Sexual violence, Incest, Racism, Mental illness, Medical content, Death, and Cancer
academicanko's review against another edition
5.0
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.
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Incest, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Mental illness
larkiereads's review against another edition
5.0
This book reads like a mystery, and although it never had me quite on the edge of my seat, I kept wanting to return to it to find out what happened next. She alternates between science history (and simple explanations of the science itself) and biography, discussing not only Henrietta's life and the advancements made with HeLa cells, but also her own search for information. The book moves along fairly quickly, and even though Rebecca is an active participant, she never centers herself and her reporting over the Lacks family and their experiences. She doesn't hold back, good or bad (or very very bad), and clearly establishes that this book is a collaboration.
I could go into the minutiae of everything this book did well, but I'm sure there are more in depth reviews out there that would do a better job. I want to close this review by saying that everyone should read this book. We owe so much of our medical advancements in the last 60 years to Henrietta Lacks, and there is ongoing debate about informed consent in tissue research and gene copyrights that affect us all. On top of that, I feel like I understand more about medical research because I've read it. And it was (mostly) fun to read! The writing and craft in this book are absolute perfection. Please give it a try.
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Incest
jayisreading's review against another edition
3.75
I’ve been thinking about a quote from the book that really highlights the frustration one may feel about the Lacks family’s situation: “She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?“ I felt so much anger reading this book, not so much because of the topic, but because of the injustices that Henrietta Lacks, her family and, really, the Black community have faced. There’s a lot in this book to digest— Despite my concerns, I think there’s a lot of important information that makes this book worth reading in the end.
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Incest
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
olivea21db's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Ableism, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Racism
Minor: Incest
booksjessreads's review against another edition
5.0
Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old black woman with 5 children when she died from cervical cancer. Howard Jones, her doctor, took a sample of her cancer without her knowledge or consent and shipped it off to a lab where it kept growing and growing. Researchers took advantage of this, but kept Henrietta's family in the dark about medical research taking place because of her.
Rebecca Skloot tells this story so amazingly. Half of the book is Skloot telling us how she acquired the information about Henrietta, and the other half is telling us about Henrietta's life, all combined to make the book. Skloot does the story justice, showing the hardship the family faced in light of all the secrets kept from them. She talks about the ethics of taking cells without consent, the crippling racism the family faced in 1950s America, and centre's the voices of the family and Henrietta, rather than imposing her own narrative throughout the story.
A side note that half of the proceeds of the book go to Henrietta's family. The family didn't receive a single penny of the medical research or sales of Henrietta's cells, so if you ever get a chance to read the book, I encourage you to buy it (if you didn't need encouraging enough!)
Honestly such an incredible read and certainly one of my absolute favourites this year!
Graphic: Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cancer, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Incest, and Panic attacks/disorders