Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf Publishing and the author for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

The year is 2010 and Rachel is a 20yo English Lit student in Ireland, living with her closeted gay best friend, James. The economy is in the crapper and despite their big dreams and aspirations, they are barely keeping their heads above water financially. When Rachel develops a crush on a professor, it leads to a series of unfortunate events that both destroy and transform her. There are jumps in the timeline as current-day Rachel recounts her past and realizes how it helped shape who she is today.

This was a great coming of age story. All of us can remember being young, unsure of the future beyond academics, perhaps also making reckless decisions in pursuit of independence, growth and success. I appreciated that this book did not rely on the same old narrative about a girl having an affair with her professor. Without going into spoilers, I found it a relief that there was a twist to that tired trope.

I wanted to love Rachel but she was a frustrating character for me. She could be weak and self-indulgent, preferring to hitch her star to a man’s wagon - whether it be James or Carey. I really wanted her to overcome her co-dependency and realize her own self-worth. The ending did satisfy me in that regard. James was a great character but I felt he was a bit underdeveloped. I wanted to see more from him than just being the Will to Rachel’s Grace.

Overall, this was a solid read. There were some difficult topics (infidelity, abortion, miscarriage, infertility) but the pacing was good and I flew through it in a weekend. It didn’t hit me in the feels the way I wanted it to, but I would still recommend it for anyone who wants to relive the nostalgia of being a restless new adult trying to navigate life.

I revisited this quite a bit later and actually really enjoyed it. Once I got past kind of the superficial similarities to Sally Rooney's conversations with friends, I found it very relatable and charming. Will definitely be reading more by this author!

Loved the setting of Ireland. This was a compelling book with a lot of complicated characters, none of which were likable. It was fun not rooting for anyone and enjoying the drama they created for themselves.

A great sick day read. Once I hit the 15% or so mark, I was fully pulled in and didn't stop reading until I was done. I really liked Caroline O'Donoghue's writing style: sharp, wry, and specific, from the depiction of Cork to the messiness of her characters. This had fresh riffs on the central dynamics, and I found myself still surprised at moments. I especially loved how nuanced and complicated Rachel and James were; they felt like real people and a real friendship, with the messiness, secrets, and possessiveness as well as the intense care and closeness of your early 20s friends. O'Donoghue also layers in the class, economic, and reproductive issues of 2010 Ireland in a way that never felt heavy-handed, just realistic.

O’Donoghue’s writing pulled me in from the beginning and i binged this in a day! Rachel and James were exciting characters to follow and the drama that unfolds never felt heavy-handed - it gave me sally rooney vibes

I’m not sure how to put into words how much I adored this book! It was so well written and so incredibly relatable. At times it made me cringe because it brought me back to being that age and being young and dumb. It really encapsulates the messiness of young adulthood.

I absolutely adored both Rachel and James even when thought they were flawed and often made bad choices. I loved their friendship and seeing updates on how it was in present time. The side characters are all fleshed out well and I loved the character development.

This is a book that will for sure be at the top of my favorite books for the year- I cannot recommend it enough! My only complaint is I wanted more- I could have stayed with these characters longer although I do feel as it wrapped up beautifully.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was fantastic. Partly a coming-of-age story with a very messy MC and realistic circumstances, and those tend to skew dark and depressing, but this still had plenty of levity. Very enjoyable, with fully developed, likeable characters.

Love, love, love this tender novel from Caroline O’Donogue. A book to be SA Poland read slowly. Highly recommended.

<i>"And so now, everyone I love is called James."</i>

[4.5 Stars]

This was a slow burn of a story of friends that barely scrape by in Cork Ireland. Working together in a bookshop and sharing the same bed to keep warm Rachel and James are inseparable besties. Life has a weird way of teaching us all lessons and this novel perfectly encapsulates that time in your life where you are broke and unsure who you are and how you will eventually contribute to society. Where the best days of your life are spent attending events for the free drinks and staying up all night pondering the future with your best friend.

Who couldn't picture themselves as Rachel? Making sub par decisions until you eventually are forced to grow up. Rachel picks up an internship working for her professor's wife who is in publishing, and is in and out of immature relationships. This could be *almost* anyone's life, but watching these characters develop over the years, I was immediately invested in their futures. A character study done expertly well. Characters that are fully well rounded with faults, I could see Rachel and James as friends in my own life.

It ended, and my heart broke because I thought I had more pages, more time with these characters. I needed to know more, I yearned to know more. This is one I will be thinking about for a while.

I had no idea what to expect when I started this book, but I truly loved falling into the story of Rachel, James, and the people in their lives. I thought this was a really well done coming of age story, and I love how all of their stories came together as we watched them grow up. I particularly loved Rachel's relationships with both James and Carey, because they felt very authentic in both the love she feels for these two men and the pain they inflict upon her without wanting to.

I also really loved how this book handled tough topics, especially abortion. Although this book is fictional, it was interesting to read about the very real challenges women in Ireland faced not that long ago. I thought that this section was handled really beautifully by the author, and it didn't seem like it was forced into the story or served no purpose.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC!

James & Rachel embark on a lifelong adventure that culminates in The Rachel Incident. How will they overcome? This book is a wild ride. I loved the perspectives of the emcee and the characters themselves. The first part of the book was slow for me; I wish more had happened in similar fashion to the second half. Looking forward to more books from this author!

Thank you Penguin Random House for my Netgalley copy of THE RACHEL INCIDENT by Caroline O’Donoghue, out 6/27/23.

I loved this book more than I thought I would. It is a laugh-out-loud lit fic novel about best friends in their 20’s before they figure themselves out, falling in and out of love with the wrong people and the right people at the wrong time. Sally Rooney taught me I love reading books about Ireland 20-somethings and Caroline O’Donoghue reminded me.

The ending is incredible. I loved how everything wrapped up and I adore both Rachel and James as characters. There were moments (the dinner party scene!) that made me gasp out loud in public. There are also keen little details that are so universal, but haven’t seen them descfribed like that before and I loved it! I also enjoyed learning more about the Ireland abortion referendum and how it impacted Irish women having to travel to London for abortions and how the recession and financial crash impacted places outside of the US in the 2010’s with fresh college grads and boomers alike.

I would of loved if James had a POV in this book, but I also respect the authors choice to make Rachel the forefront voice. It also was enticing to read about a closeted man in his 40’s in contrast to a young gay man coming out for the first time.

All in all, highly recommend this book! It’s a great read and will definitely seek out more from this author. I love that this book was clearly based around the authors lived experience and real-life best friend Ryan. The idea of “two friends trying to create huge, romantic worlds for themselves.” <3

This was a coming-of-age story that felt authentically real, with well-drawn side characters and believable relationships. I really enjoyed it and felt that author really captured what finding yourself in your early twenties can look like, mess and emotions and all. The Cork, Ireland setting was interesting as well, as it explored the economic hardships of the early 2000s from a new (to me) perspective.

What a great book! I loved reading all the intricacies of Rachel’s life and how she transformed throughout the book.

The story was so well crafted that it kept me coming back to it to see where it was going next.

A story of Rachel, a student in Ireland, and her best friend James. Rachel falls in love with one of her professors and plans to seduce him. However, the professor starts an affair with James.

This was a very slice of life novel for me, which isn’t really my favorite. I kept waiting for more plot. I think maybe it was the writing style. Others probably will like it more as that is more of a personal thing!

This book. THIS BOOK!! My favorite of the year so far, hands down. I was enthralled and now a huge fan of O'Donoghue's writing. I kept wanting to crawl back into the Rachel's world -- Cork, Ireland in 2010. Rachel is finishing her last year of university and living with her best friend James. They get caught up in a married couple's relationship in unexpected, complicated ways, but everything is very much grounded in reality and each twist and turn - crushes, young love, being broke college students and an unexpected pregnancy - is surprising, relatable, and well-earned.

There is just something refreshing and cool about how O'Donoghue writes. It goes down easy, invites you in, and keeps you guessing. THE RACHEL INCIDENT took me by surprise, and I loved how it was both complex and hilarious, heartfelt and cynical. Because its sent in Ireland and written by a young Irish woman, some will probably try to compare it to Sally Rooney but the are nothing like each other. I think O'Donoghue is much better, much more entertaining, and this book is going to be a blockbuster.

The Rachel Incident is a great read about relationships and friendships. I enjoyed the storyline and the little surprises that you don’t see coming. Well done!!

Ok I adored this book!!!! It starts off a bit slow and cliched but the writing, the story, the dialogue, the ENDING. I loved it so much I highlighted portions, something I rarely do. Anyway please read this so we can talk.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy -- it comes out next week!

A banger, indeed! I loved this book and so many phrases will live rent free in my mind from now on: "I felt like a child whose imaginary friend was starting to bite people."!? and "I felt like I was drowning and someone was asking me about my tax return." Just WOW.

This story pulled me in from the first few pages and I swallowed it so fast I was disappointed when it ended. I fell in love with the friendship between Rachel and James, as well as with the early stages of Rachel and Carey's relationship. It all felt like it happened to me.

I was only left wanting to hear more about the long-distance friendship and about James' successful career. Highly recommend!

I thought this story was a really refreshing one that tells of the good and bad things in relationships. This story made me laugh so many times and was a welcomed reprieve from the thrillers I usually read.