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elspethmigliore's review
4.25
i probably wouldn’t reread, but it was still very good.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Vomit
Minor: Murder
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: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Suicide
hayreading's review
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
tieflingmom's review
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Hate crime, Incest, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
parasolcrafter's review
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
marioncromb's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Racism, Grief, Medical trauma, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
wintermdavis's review
3.5
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
msoul13's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexism
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
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: Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Blood