Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

39 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This book was so very well-written, and I would recommend the e-book specifically or a later published copy, since it has extra material in the back about the court proceedings. I really admire Mr. Carreyrou's fearlessness and tenacity to make sure this whole story was told and fact-checked. It's very clear from the writing that the investigation was extensive, and Theranos tried to make that as hard for him as possible. As for Elizabeth Holmes, did she have a a rough time in college (including possibly being a victim of assault) and was influenced and at least a little groomed by Sunny? Very possibly. Was he verbally or in other ways abusive? Also very possibly. But she knew exactly what she was doing and who she was scamming. She knew her products didn't work and that every other thing out of her fake male-sounding voice was a lie. It's still so wild that she got so many old white dudes to give her money.
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leonkoenig's review against another edition

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challenging informative tense slow-paced

3.0

a lot of somewhat dry information and retelling for the first half but really picks up when everything starts to come down
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wyabook234's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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heather667's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

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sea_tea_books's review against another edition

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informative tense

4.5

Suggested alternate title: "Theranos: The Cult of Elizabeth Holmes." Several times the book mentioned Elizabeth tried to emulate (or maybe become?) her idol Steve Jobs, and that she rounded up her employees, telling them to blindly obey her as she was building a religion. Yikes.

"Theranos operated under a culture of secrecy and fear." Secrets make us sick.

Another case where capitalism overthrows science and critical thinking.

Unbelievable how many
enablers Elizabeth was able to surround herself with. That may have been the key as to how she was able to get so far in her farce, waste so much money, and harm so many people without being stopped. Any skeptics or whistleblowers were promptly squashed with fear mongering, squeezed with non-disclosure agreements, or stuck in litigation limbo. Even Elizabeth's supposed right hand man Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani wasn't safe from her wrath when she scapegoated and dumped him as the company sank deeper into legal trouble. Nepotism and wealthy "old boy" men permitted her illegal behavior – while turning a blind eye to common sense and scientific evidence – in return for a chance at increasing their personal wealth. American capitalism (read: selfishness and greed) at its finest. 

Don't get me wrong, Elizabeth Holmes deserves the blame. She is guilty, not only of crimes punishable by prison time, but also of being a deceptive, manipulative, scarily harmful saleswoman who can never be trusted again. She does not appear to show remorse for any of her behavior, nor does she accept any blame for her wrongdoing. The magnitude of her denial is bewildering. Let's put it this way, Dr. Ramani Durvasula could have a field day assessing Elizabeth Holmes. Dr. Ramani often says she doesn't trust charismatic people; how relevant in this case.


An interesting part of this book was
that it told the story of how someone as callous, manipulative, and ruthless as Elizabeth Holmes could continue her reign of terror for so long in this country, nestled comfortably among the wealthy zealots willing to overlook glaring problems, bypass due diligence, and deftly skirt consequences.
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kking6's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I personally felt that the way the author characterized some people (ie physical descriptions) in the book was unnecessary (eg referring to someone being slobby while also referencing weight). 
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itsmebee's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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fanchera's review against another edition

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informative sad medium-paced

4.75

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logsbooklog's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

5.0

an incredible investigative journalism piece that is narrativized and injected with thematic depth extremely deftly. the revolving door of names in the first half is dizzying, intentionally so, which might put some people off, but made the final section where the names are pared down to only the most important all the more powerful. the biggest takeaway also ends up being so much bigger than theranos: this could be any company due to the mythologizing and excusing natures of tech startups and the venture capitalists that give them power. 
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beeping_librarian's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.25

Crazy story. Very detailed recounting of a long history; insane how much and for how long this company was able to get away with it. 
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