Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

TITLE: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
AUTHOR: Rebecca Skloot
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Biography/Science History
PREMISE: A biographer goes into the history of the woman who gave the cells known as HeLa cells.
MY REVIEW: This book is a lot like Hidden Figures for me: I know nothing about the science it is talking about because science is not my wheelhouse. But the author gives such a great in depth look into fascinating lives that I find myself not caring.
This one was also wonderfully organized. One fault I had with Hidden Figures that hindered my enjoyment of it a bit was that the author kept jumping around with their information. I appreciate the in depth research...but at least present it in a way that won't confuse me. This book, did what I wish Hidden Figures had done (Hidden Figures is still good though, guys, go and read it). The author does jump back and forth a little between time periods, but there seems to be an actual rhyme and reason for it.
Also kudos to the author for explaining some of the science in a way I get. As I've mentioned: science is very much not my thing (I got Bs and Cs in it through out high school for a reason). But she explained it in such a way that I not only understood it...but was actually interested in it. In short, I really liked this book. If you're just coming off the thrill of seeing Hidden Figures for the first time on DVD/Blu-Ray, I highly suggest this book. After you get to the Hidden Figures book.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Hidden Figures, science history fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fascinating lives

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