Reaction to the text

My visceral reaction to the text was surprise, and immediate interest. Before this book, I had, like most people, never heard of HeLa cells, or Henrietta Lacks' story. Finding this book was like finding a hidden little pocket of history, one that I had been totally oblivious to before. That, combined with the fact I have always been very interested in science, especially in biology, and this book is certainly a journey down the murky annals of scientific ethics, especially considering the racism of the time that Henrietta Lacks lived in. More than just piquing my interest with science and it's related morals, the story of Lacks' life, as well as the anecdotes about her relatives and the places they lived instantly drew me in. It is a book that not only has enough surprise and mystery to make me want to pick it up, it is deep and fascinating, certainly enough to make me want to read it though to the end.