DNF at 22%

I probably should have realized I wouldn't like this book, since I didn't like what it was compared to. That's on me.

I'm realizing that I just don't like this real life type of writing, especially if I don't like the characters. Man, did I not like these characters.

If you like these kind of books, this is probably a good one for you.

a vibrant and engaging story that makes you laugh

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

This book was a slow start for me. It did hold my interest enough for me to keep at it, and in the end I was glad that I did. I enjoy getting to know the characters and liked both Rachel and James early on. A bookstore as a setting was also a draw for me.
Neither the bookstore setting or the characters developed as I expected. It was actually a bit depressing at times. This may have put me off the book a bit, but I am very glad that I didn't give up. The juxtaposing time line helped me to continue reading, as I held out hope that things would eventually work out by the end of the story. I was not disappointed.
This may be a slow burn, but it wound up being a pretty great read. The ending satisfied my curiosity and was just what I was hoping for.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
If you like stories that make you reflect on your life, that give you this perspective on growing up, on adulting, on all the ups and downs that come with navigating life, you'd like it. Especially if you are a fan of Sally Rooney's type of stories, where the protagonist and their flaws, their quirks, their journey resonate with you not with their extravaganza but with their simplicity, you'd really like The Rachel Incident. The book follows our protagonist, alongside her best friend. Their stories become intertwined. Because, that's how life works, the people we care about, the people who are important in our stories also become woven neatly or sometimes messily into our stories. This book will give you all sorts of feelings regarding growing up. Amongst a historical backdrop, the book perfectly manages to catch us up to the societal condition as well. It reads very nicely. If you love character driven stories, you'd really like it.

Cork City, Ireland in the 2010’s, Rachel is in her senior year of English literature classes at the local college. The economy is struggling and so are her parents. Her very middle class father, a dentist, is devastated that he cannot pay the fees for Rachel’s schooling. She is smart, hardworking and figures out a way to make ends meet. At the local bookstore where she meets James Devlin, a homosexual very deep in the closet with a big beautiful smile and personality to match. They become roommates and spend every moment of their free time together. Rachel and James both work at the bookshop, run wild through the local bars at night while trying not to freeze to death during the brutal Irish winter. Rachel’s crush on her professor Dr. Fred Byrne is the beginning of a rollercoaster ride that changes life forever. Coming of age during the economic recession of 2008 and hurtling through gay rights and abortion issues, Rachel’s intellect and free spirit endure the search for friendship, romance and a future life she never could have imagined.

I loved this book. I agree with the comparisons to Sally Rooney, but I think this was better written. The relationships between all of the characters were detailed extraordinarily well and you felt like you were there with them. The characters grew in so many ways.

The Rachel Incident is an intelligent, witty, and well-executed story about young people being young, making mistakes, and living by emotion. O'Donoghue's characters feel authentic and relatable and they are so richly drawn. The Rachel Incident has been compared to Normal People by Sally Rooney and I can see why -- Irish young people navigating complex relationships, experiencing firsts, and trying to find their footing in an ever-changing world. While I think the comparison is apt to a point, The Rachel Incident feels fresh and unique.

The narrative voice is certainly unlike anything I've read. This novel fits nicely with a group of novels that have gained a lot of attention recently, which feature women narrators grappling with intense emotions and making poor decisions. And yet, I felt like The Rachel Incident was honest in a way that felt like it wasn't trying to push boundaries or feature an "unlikable" woman, but really was showing people's choice culminating in devastating ways or people losing themselves to their proclivities with blatant disregard for how their choices affect others.

I highly recommend this one.

I was unsure of this one for the first 10%. It seemed too weird and the characters were making bad decisions. However, although it was a slow burn, the characters developed into imperfect people that were struggling through emotional and financial crises. The plot wove an intricate web of struggle, deceit, relationships, and the outcomes of bad decisions. I liked the air of mystery surrounding Rachel’s present life and how she turned out. It’s not your typical “feel good” book, but a deep character study of young adults slogging through recession—era Ireland.

Rachel lives in Ireland with her best friend James . They have a deep love for each other but James is gay and having an affair with her professor, who also happens to be her boss's husband. Rachel's own relationship is suffering because of her deep friendship with James and her insecurity. But Rachel is a heroine you just can't help rooting for ... and you keep reading hoping somehow everything will work out.

If you are looking for a good book to binge on, I loved The Rachel Incident so much. It is the story of a woman in her early 20s going to school in Ireland in the late 2000s and struggling to find her way. I cackled. I mean, laughed out loud and snorted. This book was brilliant in its wit and snarky one-liners. All while tackling heavy stories of coming out, abortion rights and feminism. It is all about friendship, love, family and self-discovery. It felt so real and honest with flawed but lovable characters just trying to find their way.

Caroline O’Donoghue creates a story where college and youth idiocy actually turns into something that affects Rachel her entire life.
Rachel is working at a bookshop when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight—best friend love. Bubbly and charming, James is always insisting that he is straight. But Rachel pays it no mind when James asks her to be his roommate. Together, they drink and dance their way through Cork, away from their anxiety of a financial crash. When Rachel develops a crush on her married professor, Dr. Byrne, James helps her put on a reading at the bookshop. The two have the fantasy Rachel might seduce him afterwards but things go in a way no one ever imagined. So begins a series of secrets and delusions that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Dr. Byrne as well as Dr. Byrnes enchanting, well-connected publisher wife.
This book isn’t laugh-out-loud funny. It’s amusing yes. But I also felt secondhand embarrassment for Rachel and that made the book uncomfortable at times. I remember being the age and the mistakes I made as well. I want Rachel to wake up and be her best self. But that is Rachel’s character arc: developing into her best self.
The title confused me until the end. An end that wasn’t completely as closed and detailed as I would have liked. We have watched these characters grow up, but we don’t get to see the fallout from the two people who made the story harder than it had to be, the ones who lied, the ones who created what is known as the Rachel Incident.
This is an average novel. I enjoyed it here and there but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Rachel and James are a dynamic duo, but their worlds get thrown into a frenzy after setting up a book launch for Rachel’s professor so that she can try and seduce him.

This book has all the chaos and emotions that you want you want when you’re feeling nostalgic about your 20s 🥹 and yes I realize I’m only 26 lol but it’s just all about the fun and hectic journey of starting your adult life; of first loves and heartbreaks, having no money, and trying to make the best of times with your best friends.

Wow! As a new reader to Caroline O'Donoghue, I was intrigued and curious about all the hype around THE RACHEL INCIDENT, O'Donoghue's most recent release. I was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest review - and this book does not disappoint!

Rachel Murray is coming of age in Cork, Ireland in the late 2000s - discovering herself, making mistakes, falling in love - and she finds herself entangled in friendships, relationships, and a marriage between her beloved professor and his publisher wife.

This story is utterly captivating and charming, with crisp, beautiful writing and compelling and fully-fleshed characters. I loved Rachel - rooted for her and felt for her - and the cast of characters around her is so wonderfully portrayed. I highly recommend this novel and will seek out O'Donoghue's future work, along with her back catalogue!

A brilliantly, endearing novel about messy 20 year olds, Rachel and her best friend James. Rachel looks back at her early 20s in Ireland, studying to get her English degree while working at a bookstore, with a more mature perspective. When she meets James, they quickly become best friends and have life altering experiences together. With sharp commentary about society and abortion in Ireland, Rachel’s voice will stick in your head long after you’re done reading. This novel is perfectly paced with wonderfully imperfect characters and I loved all of it!

I didn't know what this book was about, but I knew I had heard many people on Goodreads talking about it. It is not a genre I read a lot, but the book was okay and was mostly about Rachel in her 20's which was cringy at times, but 20's angst generally is. The twists got me almost every time because I thought I knew what would happen and I was usually wrong which was a pleasant surprise. I can't say I loved this book, but it did make for an interesting read.

The Rachel Incident is an absolutely lovely look into the life of Rachel Murray and her James x2.

Rachel is a very complex character who still manages to be likable, even when doing or saying things that makes your head shake.

James Carey really grew on me. I wasn’t a big fan at first because of his slovenly tendencies, but he really turned things around.

James Devlin is like every bitchy friend I had while working at the mall in my early 20s, and damn did I get reminiscent. Those friends were just never a ride or die the way that James was for Rachel. Codependent, sure, but I loved their relationship. It felt achingly real. He was such a key factor in the “incident” and still garnered so much sympathy for his own related difficult situation. And while I know it was not her story to tell, I would absolutely love a book about James’s current life.

You root for Rachel throughout the book. She was placed in many unfair situations and continues becoming better (after a good pity party of course.) I would happily be friends with her.

The book also seamlessly touches upon some Irish politics that I knew nothing about. It’s amazing how sheltered we can be as Americans, and I’m happy I learned more about the always topical subject matter at hand.

I liked how the narration was Rachel reflecting on her past with some asides. It’s a gentle spoiler alert that she will be just fine after the turning point of her young adult life. Definitely check out this book and go on Rachel’s witty, sardonic, and ultimately life changing journey.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Knopf for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm still reeling trying to understand the premise of this book .Rachel and James are the main characters with Dr Byrne and his wife as secondaries and the way their lives got tangled and intertwined, the betrayals and the altogether unsavoriness of the encounters did not lend for a favorable outcome. I found it difficult to finish this book, hesitating at varying sections whether to continue on. Rachel was portrayed as such a weak person with easily swayed morals that I could not like her character at all. James fared no better, as he basically became a doormat to his heart and overlooked and dismissed all the red flags. Through no fault of the writer or the writing technique, I cannot honestly recommend this book, unless you are willing to suspend your beliefs and approach it with an open mind.

I really enjoyed the Rachel Incident! Now that I'm writing this, I was wondering all throughout the book why the title was there, and then it really came together! This book is mostly set in Cork, Ireland, and revolves around a university student who gets mixed up with a local friend, a professor and his wife, in addition to her new boyfriend. I don't want to spoil anything - there were some really fun surprises along the way. Everyone loves Sally Rooney - and I think Caroline O'Donoghue is better than her!

Dynamic storytelling, interesting characters, and several literary twists I didn’t foresee. What a great book!

I was pulled into Rachel’s life within the first few pages, purely because of how unique the tone of this book was. I enjoyed the fact that the author kept Rachel’s present day life in the background, only referencing it when absolutely necessary. This style kept me firmly rooted in Rachel’s past; in that block of time where her life went through critical changes and challenges. It would have been easy to jump to the present to give the reader some context or resolution about how events would play out, but that didn’t happen and I liked it. I think it did an excellent job of taking a small moment in time for someone, and expanding it to make it seem endless. Often times in life we feel as though our worst times are never ending and we can’t possibly make it to the other side; we saw that through Rachel. We also got to see her reach the other side by the end; it was extremely rewarding as the reader. I loved the authenticity of all of the characters, and highly recommend!