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jcstokes95'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: Cancer, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, and Medical content
udari's review
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Suicide
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, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault
Minor: Incest
elizabethgreads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Abandonment
sydneya22's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide
julia_ham23's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
rita250's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Classism
kaceyatwood's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
becca_w_'s review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, and Car accident