Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

49 reviews

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

jbro12's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

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

martha_is_reading's review against another edition

I was enjoying the book and found the history of the HeLa cells fascinating; while the treatment of Henrietta Lacks and her family was sad to listen to. I would have carried on but about a quarter of the way through there were a lot of graphic descriptions of the physical and sexual violence that Henrietta’s children were subjected to after her death and I just found it too much 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

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

grboph's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I had to read part of this book as part of a project on bioethics for an anatomy and physiology class, but it was so interesting and well-written that I decided to read the entire thing. I'm very glad I did!! The story of Henrietta Lacks, her cells, and her family is a very fascinating one, and Skloot tells it very well. I really liked that she included herself as a secondary "character" in the book - this served to make the rest of the events of the story and the people she met seem more real because her interactions with them were documented. I learned so much from reading this book about cell biology, genetics, bioethics and its history, medical racism, and so many other things. It's very important this book exists, as it tells the story of a woman whose life affects everybody (due to how ubiquitous HeLa cells are) and how the way she was treated by Johns Hopkins doctors affected her and her family. It also raises a lot of very important points about informed consent and financial compensation, and how attitudes about these things have shifted over time. This was a very informative and well-crafted book, and I would recommend it to just about anyone, but especially anybody who is interested in medicine, biology, and bioethics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, and Pregnancy

rumay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, and Vomit

savaha's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape and Violence

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the type of book that sticks with you and sits in the back of your brain, being relevant in the least expected situations. The writing draws the reader in and tells the story in a way that makes it feel personal to each individual. More than that the lives and struggles of Henrietta and her family being immortalized as they are in this book, shine a light on the parts of history the written record strives to forget.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism