Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

42 reviews

hshinn21's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Truly one of the best, most informative, and gut-wrenching books I've ever read. I'm glad it's become famous because I think everyone should know this story. 

But you should know: this book might be difficult to read. It was for me at some points. It talks frankly, but not grotesquely, of many terrible things: and this is part of what makes it so important. I started listing content warnings below and the list looks a little bit overwhelming at first glance. So know your limits, and be prepared. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

anushar's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I read this book because I bought it to make myself smarter and ended up reading it for a school project. I usually avoid nonfiction books like the plague, but this one was pretty good. You don’t need to know a lot about science to read it, and it tells an important story, so I would recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Medical content, and Death of parent

kennedybullen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicide

creationwing's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

I wasn't a huge fan of the attempts at Chinese and Austrian accents by the audiobook reader. It felt off in a book with themes so closely tied to facing racism. It didn't help that they weren't very well done, either.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

There are detailed descriptions of the autopsies of

Henrietta and her daughter Elsie

, which may be disturbing to some people. I certainly had to pause the audiobook to mentally prepare myself.

udari's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

mandi4886's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

klfgasaway's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

ericadansereau's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

Incredible story I couldn’t put down. I appreciated the insight into Henrietta and her family, I felt like I got to know them. The author did a wonderful job with her thorough report detailing facts about the HeLa cell line and all of the ethical and legal concerns surrounding it. Some of the book was quite shocking and disturbing to read when it came to medical care and general treatment of this family and black patients. This is such an important subject and I definitely recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent