I liked this story. Several reviewers are calling it a coming of age story (and I guess it is), but that designation took me by surprise. I usually think of coming of age stories starting with children. This one starts with a 20 year old named Rachel. I had to remind myself that she was only 20 as I read the book and got frustrated with some of her life choices......but, didn't we all do stupid things at that age?

Rachel's friendship with James was a beautiful thing and was probably my favorite relationship in the book. They went through some pretty serious situations together. It was nice to follow their lives for a while together and satisfying to see where they ended up later on.

I'm grateful to NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this book. I felt transported to Ireland while reading it and would love to read more from this author.

Comparisons to Sally Rooney & Donny Alderton are warranted in this relatable Irish coming-of-age story. As her editor beautifully describes, this book is about "authenticity, about being gay in a conservative society, about sex and bodily autonomy, about coming of age in an economic recession." But it is also about finding joy and one's self.

Rachel and James are inseparable friends, trying to maintain their bohemian lifestyle amidst the threat of an impending financial crash. When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Byrne, James helps her devise a plan to seduce him through the only way they know how- by leveraging their roles at their local bookshop.

In an elaborate scheme, they convince the shop owner to host a book signing for his new academic work, and Rachel can't wait for the night to end when she can finally act on her feelings for the professor. When she wanders into the back of the shop, though, she discovers her best friend is kissing Dr. Byrne, and this will be the beginning of many years of secrets, deceit, and compromise that threaten their friendship and a marriage.

It is also a kiss that Rachel, strangely, feels a part of because of the claustrophobic way these two friends love each other. In many aspects, their lives are so intertwined, their moments relived so often together, that they become the same person. Rachel often backtracks to clarify to herself and the reader that some of these things didn't happen to her, but they feel like it when they relive every intimate detail together until the wee hours of the morning.

As the financial times become increasingly lean, she leverages this secret to create small bits of financial security through emotional blackmail. It could be as small as the grocery deliveries the professor sends with gourmet cheese and wine, or as big as landing an entry-level position in the literary world. All of this cannot happen without consequence, as it all comes to a dramatic end that sabotages Rachel's reputation and alters the course of her young adult life.

What I loved about this was the reflective nature of this journey. This story is told through Rachel's new adult viewpoint, where she can see her immaturity, vulnerability, and manipulation. She also isn't entirely sure if the world was that fixated on her saga or if it was just because she only thought about herself, something we all could understand. It wouldn't be as compelling if told in the present timeline.

More importantly, I appreciated the journey of how identity looks differently through these decades. For James, coming out is optional for his generation. So why does he need to make any proclamation? For Dr. Byrnes, he didn't know his world could look any different.

Speaking to "queer men of a certain vintage," O'Donoghue writes, "They state their age, and they wait. They let you do the math. They look at you with an expression that says: I was born in 1972. I was a teenager in the eighties. Think about the things I've seen, the news stories I was terrorised with, the deadly body I was told that I might become."

Later, James decides to live out proudly, while Dr. Byrnes must continue his secret affairs. James never expected his decision to be tricky for his lover to navigate, but the professor wants James to rein it in and worries over his lifestyle. It's a contrast that would make a phenomenal book-buddy discussion.

I could not put this book down and finished it in a single day. Don't miss this emotionally complex tale if you love a character-driven story with moving coming-of-age themes.

Thank you to Little Brown and NetGalley for the Arc!

A coming of age story taking place in Ireland centers around Rachel, her best friend James and their young adult life in a small town. It captures that early-twenties excitement of figuring out life, relationships - familial, friendly and love, how young people idealize their future and the stakes of being a young person finding their way in the world.

It made me laugh, it had heart breaking moments, and it had you rooting for characters to make better decisions as they grew. Itll be a book everyone is talking about this summer.

The Rachel Incident so well written a coming of age story that completely drew me in.The characters the dialogue was perfect.the people come alive the dialogue a wonderful read.#netgalley #therachelincident

This coming of age story resonated with me so so much and I will be thinking about it for a long time. The book perfectly portrays the trials and tribulations that are your 20s. Perfect for fans of Coco Mellors or Sally Rooney.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book!

Reading the description of the book, I thought I would enjoy this, and was invited by Netgalley to review an advanced copy.

I did not enjoy the first third, but am not of the age that I understand metrosexuals. I do get finding roommates that you have nothing in common with to save money while in college and enjoyed parts of it. Once ensconced in the characters, I was able to enjoy the rest.

It is a good read if you have an open mind, and the character development is key. The ending was very well done.

Rachel is coming of age in Cork during the recession in the early 2010s, with an English degree and vague publishing aspirations. Most importantly, her best friend James is by her side. Here’s the thing — I know that synopsis could be about so many coming of age books. But this book felt different. Gorgeously written, and so full with nuance that I felt empathy for characters I’d judged pages before. I adore Rachel, Carey, James, and their orbit. In Rachel’s story, I felt keenly the stark difference between the under-heated, disheveled, beloved shared apartment of my early 20s and my day-to-day even now. Heavy topics — recession, abortion, infidelity, complex relationships, depression, coming out — are handled with delicate humor and grace. Cannot recommend enough.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

“A brilliant….novel about friends, lovers, Ireland in chaos, and a young woman desperately trying to manage all three.” [taken from Knopf]

I both enjoyed and disliked this book and my complicated relationship with it feels a reflection of the novel as a whole. Is it because Rachel’s capricious, wistful neediness reminds me of a past version of myself? Likely. But I pointedly did not like James (to be clear not “Carey” but *the* James). He was needed for the story but his own journey, his static “I am the sun” persona, was unsurprising and trying. Or is that only because I relate to those traits too?

This book has all the pieces you’d expect- a setting in conservative Ireland, the gambles of putting a name to one’s sexuality, promiscuity, friendship, recession, crisp and witty story telling. It’s a coming of age that is relatable even with an unreliable narrator. I rooted for Carey, I felt embarrassed by and connected to Rachel, and mostly I felt quieted by the mere fact that so many of our experiences are not ours alone.

The Rachel Incident is expected to be published June 27, 2023.

Funny, insightful, and real. Full of interesting relationships, self awareness, and what it takes to grow up.

The Rachel Incident is a case of a not right now book because I just could not get into this one. The writing is great, but for me the main characters were not relatable. There are so many rave reviews - but this was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to preview The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. I didn't know what to expect when I received a recommendation from the publisher based on my review of Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I loved that book with all my heart, so I took a chance on The Rachel Incident. I'm very glad that I did!

As a 40 year old woman, I related so much to Rachel unflinchingly looking back on her 20s and the events that shaped her future. Everyone felt real; the best friend/roommate, the professor and his wife, the flaky boyfriend...I felt like I knew them in the way that Rachel knew them. I appreciated that although Rachel clearly has main character syndrome (didn't we all in our 20s?) that she doesn't cut herself much slack. I could see so much of myself in her and the way I felt about myself at her age.

I don't have much else to say other than to strongly recommend this book, especially for those of us a few years or decades past our 20s.

I thought THE RACHEL INCIDENT was a great read -- a quiet, polished, and unexpectedly thought-provoking coming-of-age drama centring the character of Irish uni student Rachel Murray and the significant (and variously intimate) relationships she develops with three different men during her last year of undergrad study in Cork. It so beautifully captured that uniquely-twenties excitement and idealism for the future, despite the contrary feeling of being constantly overwhelmed by the limitless possibilities ahead of you, despite feeling constantly on the brink of something but unable to take any meaningful steps forward because you haven't figured out quite how the world works yet.

Rachel was an imperfect yet sympathetic character, whose tendency towards accidental self-destruction struck many familiar chords. Her friendship with James, the focal point relationship around which this entire book moves, was compelling and all-encompassing, but I found his individual development lacking in a way that was enormously disappointing. His character was of equal significance to hers, his own romantic relationships and sexuality forming one of the book's most important plot threads, but his voice, though extremely funny and aware, wasn't nearly as strong. I also think there was so much left unsaid between the two of them by the end of the book that it sapped some of the emotional pay-off.

It was an enormous relief to me that Caroline O'Donoghue didn't do the obvious thing of turning the whole 'academic scandal' plotline into an over-the-top soap opera; this made Rachel's experiences more realistic and relatable, and I suspect it will afford readers a better opportunity to genuinely connect with her as a character. The political engagement, likewise, was unexpected but so sensitively accomplished; in particular, I will never not love a plotline, a book, an author who speaks so frankly and uncompromisingly about abortion, about choice, and about the realities and difficulties attached to being a woman in a world that men have gotten stupidly used to being in charge of.

My main criticism (and the reason I can't bring myself to give this five stars) is because there was something about the tone of the book that held me at a remove from the real human feeling of it. Which isn't to say the writing was bad, because it wasn't: this was a superbly well-written book. I suppose I just mean that the telling of the events was much more straightforward and much less emotive than I would have expected. A lot of reviewers have been comparing this to Sally Rooney's novels, which is absolutely fair and right -- but whereas Rooney's novels always leave me in bits on the floor by the end of them, I just couldn't make the same emotional connection here.

I need more O'Donoghue books asap, her writing is funny and convincing and just clicked with my brain. What makes this an even better coming-of-age story is that Rachel looks back with sharp self-awareness as she narrates from 10ish years in the future. So it's not just about what it's like to be young but what it's like to have grown up and to understand the things you couldn't understand before.

The Rachel Incident is a coming-of-age story about Rachel. Rachel is working in a bookstore while finishing up her senior year at university. She is living with her closeted roommate James, infatuated with her English professor Dr. Byrne and dating Carey a loveable but unreliable man.

The characters are all engaging and humanly flawed, the relationships are rich and complex. It was a pleasure to read about Rachel as she navigates her way through the sticky life situations and relationships that young adults endure. The story was funny and heartfelt, a total enjoyment...
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for and advance copy.

4.5 stars

*I received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I knew I would like this book before even starting and I definitely wasn’t wrong! Caroline O’Donoghue has such an amazing way of building character relationships that you can’t help being drawn into, with the sort of intensity that makes it difficult to stop reading. The friendship between Rachel and James was loving and supportive, but often toxic, and really made this book for me.

It’s a novel about being in your late teens/early twenties, and all the uncertainty that comes with trying to discover where you belong and what you want. It reflects on the importance of friendship and how this can sometimes overshadow what’s best for you, and does this in such a tender and relatable way. It also shows different perspectives on sexuality and tackles a wide range of difficult topics with sensitivity.

Such a compelling and emotional read and one that I’ll definitely be thinking about for a long time.

Okay okay okay, to me Caroline O’Donaghue can do no wrong. She is hilarious and I will sit and listen/read everything that she produces. Like, can you do the eulogy at my funeral? Just to make everyone a little bit up and about? Okay thanks.

Anyway, The Rachel Incident is one of those stories that you can imagine happening to every other 20 something girl and their best friend. I mean, maybe minus the *cough cough* incident, Rachel and James are best friends, work together, live together, are everything to each other and I love it. They live in conservative Ireland and whilst their lives get tangled in the questioning of their morals and what is accepted in society, the story continues to come back to their strong friendship. Through relationships, careers, family dramas and drunken nights, O’Donoghue has a way of writing like the story is about you. It’s not, the story isn’t about you, or me, but I had to kinda stop and think, I did have a blue sweater & a boyfriend called James… Is this me? No, it’s not.

I heavily endorse this book and if you are fan of Caz and Dolly and the likes, you will enjoy this fictional journey.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheRachelIncident which is coming out in June.

I think this was a case of wrong book, wrong person because I just could not get into this one. There are so many rave reviews - this one was just a miss for me. The writing seemed chaotic, I didn’t particularly love the main characters, and I wanted to DNF this one many times. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one early - it just wasn’t my taste.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy.

Oh my goodness, the ending of this book, saved this book. I almost DNF'd it several times, as I didn't really get into it, until about 65% in. The one thing that kept me reading was the unbreakable bond and friendship between James and Rachel. Their relationship was so pure and so sweet. Even though the first part of the book was giving the readers the background story, it felt pointless; I didn't understand the direction or how these seemingly isolated incidents were going to carry through. Miraculously, the second half of the story somehow tied everything together, but it was the getting there that was a bit painful. I truly loved the ending of this book though and how everything turned out in the end. Everyone seemed to get their deserved happy ending. I was so relieved that Rachel finally got herself together and reconnected with old friends. Sometimes the difficult journey is worth the end result!

I struggled with this one in the beginning and for quite a bit (probably the first third) until I was settled in and began enjoying the story. I loved the depth of the relationship Rachel had with James (the friend). You spend a lot of time inside Rachel's head and this is more stream of consciousness storytelling than anything. That can be tricky to pull off, but I thought this was done very well in that regard.

#THERACHELINCIDENT by #carolineodonoghue is a bit like Jersey Shore but Irish. There are heaps of excellent catchphrases and quips, haphazard adulting and tons of misadventures; this book is peak 2009. I loved 2009. To be young and broke and living it up with your best friend as you both make a go at city life is something that a girl who works in a bookstore will always cherish.

This may be my first favorite read of the year and it hasn’t even come out yet! The #netgalley link landed in my inbox this month and from the instant I met James and Rachel (as Sabrina) I was swept away. The friendship between the closeted gay guy and six-foot tall Glamazon is beautifully rendered. From their attempts at securing love - one with a married English professor and the other with an invisible man from the north - to their attempts at saving money (i.e. making a list of all the people they can ask money from), their moments together are at once poignant and hysterical. I paused so often to share laugh out loud lines to my husband. Life does catch up to them, eventually, but the lightness and levity maintains throughout; I so enjoyed seeing how life turned out for these two kindred souls.

Many thanks to @aaknopf and @netgalley for providing an eARC for review. I’m beyond grateful I got to read this one early. #THERACHELINCIDENT comes out 6/27/2023.