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caidyn's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent
mandi4886's review against another edition
5.0
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
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: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
sienas_books's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Racism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction
shaney_swift's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual assault
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: Ableism, Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
princessfabulous's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Racism and Medical trauma
hollandmoriarty's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racism and Medical content
lattesandlovers's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Medical trauma
daisyb33's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma