Reviews tagging 'Incest'

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

76 reviews

fjcrow's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Racism

justcallme_blondie's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Slavery

aduqu's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.25

This book taught me a lot, both about cells and about the history of Henrietta Lacks and her family.

The book alternates between recounting the Lacks' family history, the history of HeLa cell research, and the experiences the author had with the Lacks while working on the book.

Overall, a really interesting read that manages to shed light on a lot of complex issues. I think someone who works in science or medicine would probably get more out of it than I did!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest and Rape

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

This book tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who had her cells taken when she went into Johns Hopkins Hospital for cancer treatment. The cells which were taken without her consent were then sold and distributed around the world for medical research and are still used today. The fact that this story is real is so troubling. The way the medical community has taken advantage of poor, black and handicapped people in the name of medical advancement is atrocious and it makes perfect sense that many do not trust doctors because of this. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

pastelhxrmony's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective

5.0

I could not put this book down, this is definitely one of my favorites. About 50% science and 50% biography and I loved every single bit. Everyone needs to learn about the impact Henrietta’s cells have had on humanity and her family.  This book is so well written and there’s a lot to learn from it. I could not recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  enough.  This is the book that got me into nonfiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Incest

muppetymelody's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

hayreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

A good and informative book. Not my usual read, but very well written. Points off for slow pacing.

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Content Warnings

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

ejthephoenix's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! I’m so happy that Henrietta and her family have finally gotten some recognition after all this time and get to tell their story. I’m also really glad that this book is being included in my class at our school. I would definitely recommend reading this book no matter what you like to read! :) Non-fiction, fiction, science, theories, biographies, realistic fiction, and even non realistic fiction lovers will love this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Incest, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Blood, Vomit, and Outing

alliejuve's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery