This a novel about friendship and how far one is willing to go for a friend. In Rachel's case, that may be too far. While her devotion and loyalty to her friend are admirable, maybe it is taking things too far when it starts to have an extremely negative affect on her life.

This is a book full of complex characters with complicatedly intertwined lives. They do not always make the right choice, and they are not always likable. The story is refreshingly original and unique, however, which keeps it interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy of this book in exchange for a review!

I had a lot of fun reading this book and really enjoyed myself! I can't help but compare it to Sally Rooney's books, except this was actually good and enjoyable. This novel is more character driven than plot driven, and usually I find books like that tedious to get through and usually it feels like they drag on, but I flew through this book!

The story starts with thirty-three-year-old Rachel on public transportation and a man gives her his seat because she is pregnant. He asks her about someone she knows, she doesn't hear the name he says due to the noise of the environment she's in and assumes he is asking about her friend James. The man clarifies that he is talking about an old professor of hers that they shared and tells her that he's in a coma. Then it flashes back to twenty-year-old Rachel meeting her best friend James and this is where we spend most of the novel.

I found Rachel a relatable character, particularly her relationships with other people and she felt about herself in relation to them. Even the aspects of her that I couldn't specifically relate to, I still liked learning about her and reading about her and found myself rooting for her throughout the story.

All of the characters were three dimensional and felt very realistic, which I found refreshing. In the beginning when Rachel was describing James, I was thinking about how I have known people like him. I like this author's writing style as well and the story moved along at a good pace. However, in the last chapter there is a big time jump where the author is just info dumping and listing things that have happened, which I felt didn't fit the rest of the book.

I'm glad that I got the opportunity to read this book, I had a lot of fun!

Told mainly via flashback, we learn about Rachel’s life while she was 20 in Cork, Ireland around 2010. She tells the story from the vantage point of a married, pregnant woman in her 30s in London.

Rachel’s parents have fallen on hard times due to the economic collapse and she has to work a lot while going to university locally. She meets her future best friend, James, while working in a bookstore. James is gay but hasn’t fully accepted that fact yet. Rachel has a crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne, and arranges to hold a book launch for him at the bookstore where she works (in spite of it being a nonfiction book with a misleading title). That night a life-changing affair begins, but not one with Rachel. Life gets very complicated for Rachel, with lots of secrets to keep.

Some of the “suspense” (this is definitely not a mystery or thriller!) is spoiled by the fact that we know that Rachel eventually figures out her life, but it was interesting to see how she got there.

While I received the eARC from NetGalley, since I was late to it, I wound up mostly listening to the published audiobook by Random House Audio. The narrator, Tara Flynn, did an excellent job.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I read a few chapters and just couldn't get into it.... the voice wasn't quite right. I didn't find myself particularly invested, but I think I'm in the minority! I've seen so many others who loved this one, so I think give it a try if it sounds intriguing to you!

The morning after I finished The Rachel Incident, I received an email from a bookseller that described the book as follows: "hilariously relatable novel of turbulent friendships, the hardships of youth and a girl who falls in love with her married professor." Only one part of that statement is true. Caroline O'Donoghue's novel about a student's first foray into independence is full of angst and regret. Rachel does fall in love, but not with the professor that she crushes on early in the book. In fact, she experiences two great loves within this tale. O'Donoghue recreates the feeling of being an early twentyish female right after the housing collapse and bank failures of 2009. Set in Cork, Ireland, the universal truths of striving for independence from family is displayed as Rachel goes to school, works, and learns how to be a human on her own. This coming of age story appeals to this reader as I remember my own strive for autonomy.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
A warm and melancholic tale of coming of age in Ireland, 2010. Rachel and James meet at the bookshop where they are both trying to earn enough to live on. Alone, they can’t but their fabulous chemistry lets them believe they can do it together. They move into a flat on Shandon Street and they discover the most important relationship in their lives to date…best friends.
Rachel has always known that James is gay, but he starts the journey well in the closet (though everyone who knows him, know!). Rachel is finishing her English degree and both of them are ready for love to find them. The twists and turns and complications – and betrayals—that lead them to their next phase are shattering… for both of them and their friendship.
Importantly, access, or lack thereof to reproductive healthcare in Ireland at the time, and the rest of the world now, is a central theme in this book. The journey of those most personal of decisions is traced both for the characters and the law.
The book deals with serious subjects in a respectful and often humorous way. A very good read—Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, for providing the review copy. The book was released on June 27, 2023 and is available now.

Oh my goodness! I was not expecting to love this book the way I did. It’s a coming of age-ish story about Rachel, an Irish girl living in Cork with her best friend James. It’s full of Irish humour, drama, and shenanigans. I deeply related to Rachel, and found her to be just perfectly flawed. I’d say this is my favourite book of the year!

If you love Derry Girls or Irish storytelling I’d say go for this for sure!

I finished this book in 2 days, completely immersed in the feeling of familiarity of the friendship she had/has with James, Carey and Fred and Deenie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially in knowing so many of the “Irish” terminologies and sites. Kind of If you know, you know.

My thoughts



Narrative and Plot


I went into this book almost blind and did not know what to expect. I read the blurb a while ago when I requested it from NetGalley, but I honestly didn't remember much when I started it. Still, this one pulled me into this world of Rachel and her Jameses. It is a heartwarming coming-of-age story.

Even though I know little about Irish culture or history, the characters and their motivations are quite relatable. Recently, I read the book Bunny which had a strong friendship but eventually the plot went all over the place. Here, however, I enjoyed the ebb and flow of the relationships. It was messy and flawed and all the very real for it.




Characters and Conflicts








Books like this make me wonder how authors can infuse an inherent tone of humor while discussing a serious topic. I still remember being stunned by Arundathi Roy's "Sophie Mol - Coffin cartwheeler". It won't be fair to compare these two books. But, I guess the point I am trying to make is that there is an inherent light-heartedness in the way Rachel sees the world. Despite the whirlwind that was her life, this makes her character endearing till the end.



Carey and James were both equally brilliantly written realistic characters. Carey, in particular because he was as flawed and messed up as Rachel too. They complemented each other and despite the many differences and issues; I was rooting for them.

Now coming to the friendship between James and Rachel. It is the soul of this story. Their relationship carried the whole book as it was intended. It almost feels like I have read someone's memoir instead of a fictional story. I loved how the book didn't bother to create characters that were aspirational. Instead, it portrayed realistic characters and showed us that despite the many flaws, everyone deserves their own version of truth and happiness in life.








Conclusion



In short, I would say go for it. I might not end up re-reading this, but I would want as many people reading this because it is, as the author described in the acknowledgment - a cinematic version of the smaller things in life.

If someone were to ask me to describe this book in a few words, "a beautiful coming of age" novel would be apt. But, I think it offers much more than that.

THE RACHEL INCIDENT starts slow and seemingly random, but once it gets going, the pieces fall into place and leave the reader with a thoughtful, introspective debut from O'Donoghue.

This book was a very enticing and powerful story of friendship and platonic relationships and the struggles of being a young woman in Ireland in the early 2000s. I have never been an Irish woman in the early 2000s, so I wasn't really expecting to relate to Rachel, so I was taken aback by how well I think Caroline O'Donoghue captured the female experience as a whole rather than so specifically.

I'm a huge fan of O'Donoghue's previous works as well as her podcast, so I was very excited to read this book, and it definitely did not disappoint. I found the story itself as well as the different types of relationships portrayed so moving and touching; I wasn't expecting to cry while reading this book, but I did (and I finished it on a plane, so it was slightly embarrassing LOL).

I especially found the ending of the book to be my favorite part, when SPOILER ALERT, she ends the book with a conversation between Rachel and Deenie. It felt so full circle and so important for the book to end with these two characters. I was a huge fan of Rachel and of The Rachel Incident as a book.

Recommended for fans of Sally Rooney and fans of books about womanhood in your early 20s!

Dear The Rachel Incident,
I am not sure what I thought you were going to be about, but I really enjoyed your story. Honestly, I listened to you in a day. I was so intrigued by James and Rachel that I just wanted to lose myself in their small world, on Shandon Street in 2011. I think my favorite part of your whole story was the fact that you highlighted the fact that we are rarely who we think we are in other people's lives. Rachel and Kerry's relationship and James and Richard's relationship were such perfect demonstrations of the knots we tie ourselves into in our early 20's and then spend years figuring that out who we are from that point. You were written with so much heart and depth.

A story about the power of friendship - - the good and the bad. It has the power to lift you up but also to tear you down. It also demonstrates how confusing life is and that sometimes even though love can be right there - - you might not be able to reach it.

So much of this book seemed to take place in Rachel's thoughts. You were very in touch with her and how she was feeling about things. It was all from her perspective so you didn't really know the direct impact on others. There were times in the early part of the book that she made me crazy. In looking back, I realize she was young and finding her way, but the things she did truly frustrated me at times. But it was what needed to happen to push the story forward to where it needed to go.

This really was a good story with strong characters and a solid plot. I was hooked and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

This is a book where you can see the train wreck coming, you don’t know when and you don’t know exactly what it will look like after. ODonoghue did a great job of building to that crescendo while still focusing on other aspects of the story and not let everything fall apart immediately after. Great campus novel to take you down a new path of love and careers and life.

The Rachel Incident is an extremely thoughtful and touching coming of age novel. Rachel Murray is attending University in Cork, Ireland and meets James who ends up becoming her best friend while they both are working at a bookstore. Lots of best friend hijinks ensue, and when Rachel develops a huge crush on one of her professors, the two friends set up a plot to get him into the bookstore. Things do not go as planned, and the two friends become entangled in very complicated relationships with Dr. Byrne and his wife Deenie. Rachel also meets another James, James Carey, who she falls in love with. The story is told by Rachel in the present day, looking back 10-15 years in the past. We experience the ups and downs of being a young woman and facing the consequences of your choices. Beautifully written, this is one of the years best literary fiction novels!

Rachel Murray is attempting to navigate the messy transition into adulthood and the perils of life in one's early twenties — life, friendships, jobs and love. She and her bookstore co-worker, James Devlin, immediately gravitate toward each other and soon find themselves attached at the hip. Together, they deal with heartbreak, ambition, life in a small town and wanting something more. Yet the pair soon find themselves facing something much more complicated than they bargained for.
Author Caroline O'Donoghue is an absolutely beautiful storyteller and I so look forward to reading more of her work. However, I feel as though the plot was a bit lacking and didn't necessarily merit an entire book. I also never grew to like any of the characters and I found myself incredibly disappointed with the lack of development, especially on Rachel's part.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Knopf for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

I cannot understand the hype for this meandering story about the messy lives of Rachel and her gay best friend James, two young adults living in Cork, Ireland. When Rachel develops a crush on her married professor (already getting problematic here), James decides to help her seduce him. Their plan takes some
unexpected turns, and they both become involved in a complex web of lies and romantic entanglements that ends badly.

I struggled to get through this book; I nearly quit more than once. I couldn’t stand any of the characters, but Rachel, the main character, was the worst. I thought she was both a boring protagonist and an incredibly selfish and shallow person. She did show some growth throughout the story, but not enough for me to actually want to root for her.

The plot was also very slow, and the writing was nothing special. This novel is described on Goodreads as “brilliantly funny,” but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. I was bored through the first half of the book.

Overall I didn’t really enjoy this one. But still, thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the DRC.

Such a good coming of age story. Rachel is one of the main characters- her story is told in two different timelines. One in Cork, Ireland where she is in her early twenties last semester of university. She has a job at a bookstore, starts an internship she really doesn’t like and has many secrets that keep piling on. Her best friend is James. He also has some coming of age adventures. He has not quite come out yet and is exploring life as he goes along. Rachel pines for her professor and her and James devise a plan for him to do a book reading at the bookstore. It’s James who ends up with an affair with the professor not Rachel and thus this turns into one of the many secrets in her life that seem to pull her down. We do get glimpses of her future life with the switching of timelines and do know she does make it out and has a successful career. I really loved the way the story is told and the way very hard topics such as abortion, miscarriage are handled. The friendship between Rachel and James is strong empowering what that do for one another. This is a story of friendship, loyalty, love, and self discovery. Many thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue was a deep dive into the chaotic lives of Rachel and James, instant best friends after meeting at a bookstore.

To save money the two move in together and live their early twenties hard, with dancing and partying at clubs till the wee hours of the night. They know this behavior is wrong as they should be saving money, but remember, they are young and immature.

Rachel aspires for more than she has, while James is stuck where he is. They both fall in love with the same person, of which I will not reveal if it’s a he or a she. This puts them at a crossroads. Rachel ends up working for the “mystery person’s spouse” and their lives basically become a cluster of lies and secrets.

The book also shines a light on the financial crisis in 2010 Ireland as well as the extreme difficulty women have in getting an abortion. Overall, this was a satisfying read with a strong and smart conclusion.

I was a bit nervous going into The Rachel Incident because, to be honest, I'm a bit tired of the glorification or romanticizing of toxic relationships. I'm glad to say that that wasn't at all what this book was about. Yes. Rachel is a bit dysfunctional. Yes, she has an unhealthy relationship with a professor....but it isn't at all what one might imagine reading that.

This book ended up being about so much more than I was expecting. Rachel was relatable in many ways and I felt for her with all that transpired.

If you like a book that is at turns frustrating, humorous, and reflective with a main character who will make you want to give her a hug, you will likely enjoy this book.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Caroline O'Donaghue, and Knopf for the E-ARC of this book. This in no way affects the objectivity of my review.