Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

57 reviews

micklesreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book was fascinating and really centered the Lacks family, which I loved. I sometimes felt like the descriptions of Deborah were exploitative; I would like to have seen more nuance there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

eegrasse's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Classism

cricci's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Rebecca Skloot beautifully weaves the origin of HeLa cells from Henrietta Lacks, the impact on her family, and the lasting legacy HeLa cells have had on science and society. Skloot is able to take the reader right through her research process and bring the human element to a topic usually reserved for objective opinions.

The audiobook narrators do a fantastic job. They truly immerse the listener into the time of the book.

Highly recommend for anyone, particularly science lovers and biography enthusiasts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Torture

eqrvn's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

spoiler free review - Amazing book and extremely informative. I had to read this for biology and oh my god, I learned things I never knew happened in history. This book is more of a critique on medical ethics rather than actual biology, but I think that’s the best part. It can be a bit of a bore for most people so that’s why i rated it 3.75, but I personally enjoyed it. I wouldn’t call it a favorite, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent

moniipeters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

maybephasing's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Racism

zams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

English: Definitly the best book I've read so far.
The telling of the stories as well as  the presentation of the researched data was incredible. As somebody who only learned English as a 2nd language I was a little nervous about the presence of authentic language, but it made the whole bok just a lot more real and therefor enjoyable.
An absolutely outstanding work by everybody that contributed. This is not just a book about science but also one that transfers heavy emotins right through the pages.

Deutsch:  Definitiv eines der besten Bücher die ich bisher gelesen habe.
Das Erzähle der Geschichten genauso wie die Präsentation der gesammelten Daten sind unvergleichlich.
Ich hatte zuerst etwas Respekt vor der Tatsache dass authentische Sprache in dem Buch verwendet wird, allerdings war das Verständnis absolut kein Problem, und gab der Geschichte das gewisse etwas, dass sie so persönlich macht. Ich weiß nicht wie diese Parts in der deutschen Übersetzung wirken.
Definitv eine herausragende Arbeit von allen, die daran mitgewirkt haben. 
Nicht nur ein Buch über Wissenschaft, sondern auch eines dass es schafft, heftige Emotionen durch die Seiten zum Leser zu transportieren.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Murder

kj_reads's review against another edition

Rebecca Skloot literally is no different from any of those other reporters and journalists that were bothering this family. Some of this book focuses on Skloot's journey to find information about the HeLa cells and the Lacks family. After I realized that, I wanted to push through just to keep getting more info about the Lacks family and their fight for compensation (which was something that was discussed) and ownership over the cells, but then I found out that Skloot barely gave any money to the family from what was generated from the book. Like you've got to be kidding me, you mean to tell me you invaded this family's life and used them just so you could write a book about them and their experiences, and you barely even compensated them. It felt very white savior-y. I found/find that super disgusting and I couldn't bring myself to continue reading after that honestly. Also, I really hated the way that she talked about some of the family members. I can't remember exactly what was said since I'm writing this so much later from when I stopped reading, but I remember negative descriptions being used in times where it was 100% not necessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

graceburke's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of, if not the most impactful book I've ever read. Rebecca Skloot is a thoughtful and thorough writer as she tells the story of Henrietta, her family, and her cells. I knew very little of Henrietta and her story when I started. I'm not very knowledgable about science in general, let alone cell culture , but this book was extremely accessible. Moving between telling the past life of Henrietta, the present life of her children, specifically her daughter Deborah, and the immortal life of her cells, Skloot shares the horrors and racism of the world through medical practices and the treatment of the Lacks family. She forces you to think about the morality of different medical practices through an in depth exploration of the advancements of medicine on the backs of Black and Brown people. Where does the line between public responsibility and personal rights stand? Do the ends justify the means? Is fiscal compensation enough of a form of reparations? 
The story of Henrietta and her family is complex, Deborah would be one of the first people to admit such. It's hard and harrowing. The duality of distrust for the abuse their family endured and the recognition that it was Lacks' cells that allowed for the saving of millions of lives and counting globally is not lost on them. 
I gasped, cried, and laughed. Deborah and Skloot's relationship is something I will be thinking about for a long time. I'm so grateful the Lacks' story has finally been shared. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Abandonment