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mels_reading_log's review against another edition
5.0
I did like the way the book was written like a podcast, where we went along with the author to do research and meet with the family members. This keeps the information accessible and easier to understand than dense science talk. I believe this information should be required knowledge in this country, so people, especially the non black can know the depths of racism that exist and understand that this was less than 100 years ago.
Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Incest, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cancer, Chronic illness, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide
hayreading's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Child death, Cancer, Medical trauma, Slavery, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Addiction, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, Sexual harassment, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Drug abuse, Confinement, Chronic illness, and Adult/minor relationship
tieflingmom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Hate crime, Cancer, Incest, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death, Sexism, and Terminal illness
parasolcrafter's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Incest, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Racial slurs, Abortion, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Slavery, and Terminal illness
marioncromb's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Classism, Racism, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death
Minor: Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Violence, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Slavery, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Incest, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
wintermdavis's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
msoul13's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Death
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, and Sexism
mandi4886's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
marieketron's review against another edition
2.0
the good bits
- the science history
- discussions on science ethics, especially in regards to informed consent
- the life history of Henrietta
- overview of the scientific controversies related to HeLa
- life of the Lacks family and how they relate to Henrietta and HeLa
the not so good bits
- clearly the story of Henrietta and HeLa is important and needs to be told, but at the same time the Lacks family did not reach out to reporters or writers in order for the story to be told. It calls into question whether we have the right to a story just because it's important and regardless of the people connected to it, which very closely ties in with the type of issues the book itself is discussing.
- this issue is emphasised by the author continuously inserting herself into the narrative, to the point of almost making herself up like a White Saviour. i skipped through the last few chapters where the we are learning everything about Deborah from the author's perspective. It is important for Henrietta's family to have a clear voice in this work, but it could have been done in a way that didn't include the author.
- specific for the audiobook version, I felt very uncomfortable with the accents the narrator used to give form to the Lacks family, other Black people, and a few Asian and German characters. this issue is especially egregious because Bahni Turpin was contracted as one of the two narrators but only used very sparingly and extremely inconsistently. She would have been the perfect voice for Henrietta's daughter Deborah, but she only reads the occasional direct quote from her. I can remember three instances throughout the book where the narrator is Turpin.
Graphic: Incest, Vomit, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infertility, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Cancer
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Slavery
jourdanicus's review against another edition
Graphic: Cancer, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism