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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
sienas_books's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Incest, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction
foreverinastory's review against another edition
5.0
CWs: Abandonment, ableism, addiction, blood, cancer, child abuse, chronic illness, death, death of parent, drug abuse/use, emotional abuse, fatphobia, forced institutionalization, grief, incest, infidelity, medical content, medical trauma, mental illness (PTSD), physical abuse, pedophilia, pregnancy, racial slurs, racism, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual harassment, terminal illness, vomit.
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Vomit, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness
vampiretree's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
spasqual's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma
Moderate: Incest and Racism
marenk's review against another edition
5.0
Before reading this book, I expected it to be very scientific and hard to read, but that honestly wasn‘t the case at all! It is easy to read and you really don‘t need to know a lot about medicine (I didn‘t either).
I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in medicine, genetics and/or the ethical code of medicine!
Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Terminal illness, and Cancer
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Incest
peachani's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Stalking
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
hannahollihan's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual assault