Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Book Review- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Not my image
Before a friend recommended this book to me, I had never heard of it. 
This is not a book that I would normally have chosen, but she spoke highly of
the book, so I decided to give it a chance. 
It was also this month's book in our squadron book club.

From page one, I was hooked. I am a nurse practitioner, so the medical aspect of 
this story immediately appealed to me. I thought it was going to be a bit too
"sciencey" for me, but it wasnt at all. The author kept it on a level that anyone could
understand. The cells described in the book are so popular and well known in the science
and medical community, but I had never heard of them. 

The book is a true story of the life of a woman whose cells have greatly impacted our
lives today, though she never had any knowledge of this. The author contacts the 
woman's family and describes her efforts to tell their mother's story. 

I loved the book until about 3/4th of the way through and then it began to get boring. 
The best parts of the story have been told by that part and the ending is just ok. 
I would still recommend this book, despite the last part, because the first 3/4ths really
are good. 

Rating: ****


Rating Scale
*****: Amazing, wonderful, MUST-read, loved it!
****: Really liked it, would recommend, good book!
***: Liked it, enjoyable, but not the greatest book ever written. 
**: Not so great, some good parts, but overall, it was just ok. 
*: Didnt like it, wouldnt recommend it, bad book all around.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

I've never heard of this book either. I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of it.

Gilion at Rose City Reader said...

I just read this book too. I found your blog because I was looking for other reviews. Glad I did -- great blog! I was turned off by the ending of this book as well. Parts I really liked, but it left a bad feeling.

My review is here.