⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars from me! I think I really really liked this one. The first half of the book was really engrossing and a page-turner. Each chapter left me gasping, either with a little surprise in the plot or with beautiful prose and astute wisdom. I also loved the setting (early aughts in the small city of Cork, Ireland).

This is a new take on dark academia / student-professor relationships, but more so coming-of-age friendships and navigating co-dependency throughout your early twenties. As a reader, it feels VERY hard to find something you’ve never read before tackling these subjects!

Although the ending doesn’t tie everything up into a beautiful bow, I felt happy and satisfied with it, like a good lit fic book should be in my opinion.

If you like the tropes I’ve mentioned, I think you’ll like this one, and certainly I’ve found a new author I look forward to reading more from!

Oh yes - Rachel is a hot mess as most of us are in our clueless 20’s! Her life plans of university are upended when her family is hit hard by the Great Recession. She muddles her way through, working at a bookstore with James who becomes her BFF.
Rachel and James have a great deal of fun financially struggling but with greater concerns about where they are going in life! Their blundering is rather charming and, of course, they are their own worst enemies. Lots of drama, lots of angst, lots of “oops”! It is an enjoyable journey to finally reach the other side!

This book is brilliant. I don't really know how else to describe it.

I have not read Caroline O'Donoghue's other books but by God will I read them now. Her writing is sharp, to the point, the type where you reread a phrase several times to focus on how perfect it is. It's witty and funny and refreshing.

The construction of the story was marvellous as well. Multi-layered but not in such a way as to make you feel stupid or indignant.

I loved the insight into the book world, what there was of it. As someone about to get an English degree, I do feel as though I've seen the Ghost Of Christmas Future career-wise but I am not going to focus on that. Or maybe it added to my enjoyment of this book. I can't really tell right now.

The book touches several complex issues with stunningly breezy ease while being multi-faceted in its exploration of them. I was blown away (that's the wind reference continued. I'm unimpressed too; it's late),

Rachel. Oh, Rachel. I love her. I think about her often. The book is written is such a way as to juxtapose the many different selves that are inside us and it absolutely makes her fascinating. I would go so far as to say that I'm obsessed. I'd like to reread this book with a highlighter. To put it under a microscope. To examine it in such depth that I never speak of it again.

The side characters. I struggle to have any favourites. They were people, they were real people and the development we see and what we learn, being filtered through Rachel -- again. I'd like to look at it so closely it falls apart.

Overall, READ IT, PLEASE.

Caroline O'Donoghue is one of my instant authors, as soon as I see she has a book I am definitely reading it! This did not disappoint at all, it was exceptional. I could not put it down. I am beginning to think she is just flawless. Her characters are always well rounded and the storyline gripping. Excellent read.

Very rarely, a book comes along that grips me from page 1 and makes me cancel all plans to finish it. The Rachel Incident definitely did this for me.
I loved everything about this book and it’s by far my favourite this year.
The writing style is beautiful and I engaged with the vulnerability of the characters. This book made me sad, frustrated, disappointed and happy. I love when a book is able to do that and it will stick with me for a long time.
This is a gorgeous book and one that I’ll be recommending to all.

I could not get into this book. It might be the setting of Britian/Ireland. It was not as funny as I was expecting. I was bored throughout the entire thing.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC

I can’t stop thinking about The Rachel Incident, and I am excited for its release to recommend it to folks. It transported me back to that time in my 20s when everything felt uncertain, terrifying, and exciting all at the same time. Rachel tells us this story of her past while interweaving her reflections of today.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC is exchange for my honest feedback.

When Gabrielle Zevin says she loved it what could go wrong? Nothing - I loved it too! A young Irish woman in her early twenties is trying to get her ducks in a row and start her life as an adult. Easier said than done as I remember from my own experience. Funny and honest and it will all work out!

The Rachel Incident read like an autobiography, and I loved it. A year in the life of a twenty-year-old can seem like a century, as it did for Rachel. Fortunately, Rachel had her bookstore co-worker and friend as a roommate. That made it livable and full of humor. Rachel's crush on her professor, Dr. Devliin, made life hell for them. The surprises in this story came quickly and never got old.

Sometimes, I wanted to shake Rachel as I would my twenty-year-old self. Pull it together. This is not the rest of your life. It is a brief moment that can turn into a beautiful path to love and work that will fulfill you for many years. If only we knew to jump into life and not be afraid.

This energetic novel is worth reading to the end. I had to find out what happened to all the quirky characters!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. Publish date is June 22, 2023

This was just okay for me. I didn't love it, I just couldn't find a rhythm for it and struggled with trying to stay focused on the story.

I loved Caroline O'Donoghue's YA series The Gift. This was a great departure into more adult fiction. I loved the characters. Funny and thoughtful.

This was such a pleasant read and also fun. There are a lot of good moments I enjoyed with this novel, It is everything I like within literary fiction. I'm excited to see this on my local Barnes and Noble shelf.

This was an interesting read. I feel like this may be loosely based off real life, and if so, I apologize for saying this, but I didn't have a real fondness for the Protagonist. While she has the self awareness (at least when she got a little older) to realize it, she was quite self absorbed, and didn't really give a lot of 'care' to others... except maybe for her best friend (whom I loved.) It felt like a lot of the bad/negative things that happened were mostly her fault (or at the very least, she could have prevented them,) yet she didn't accept that. She's didn't necessarily play the blame game, just didn't take any credit for her part in it. Now, having said that, I did enjoy the story itself and kept reading to see what was going to happen next. In the beginning, we learn that she is married now, but we don't learn of the who to until the end, so there's that little mystery. The book reads as if the Narrator/Protagonist is telling a story, and goes back and forth in the timeline between then (starting when she's in her College years) to the present, (some 8-10 years later,) as she remembers the past. I'm not sure what this book is classified as, and though we do see some relationships take place, I wouldn't really call it a romance. There is some drama, and a laugh here and there. There is an LBGT element. There is some cheating involved, though not by the Protagonist.) Any sexual content is minimal and nothing graphic. There is quite a bit talk of abortion, so be warned if this is a trigger. The book reads in a more melancholy tone. There was an editing/formatting(?) thing that I didn't care for when it came to the actually reading... lets see if I can explain this properly... There would be pages of a scene, then suddenly the next paragraph would be a different setting or point in the timeline and it would take me a minute to realize it. It felt like it should have been a new chapter or at least had some sort of marker between paragraphs to indicate this. It made it a little confusing as a reader. Now, having said THAT, :D I did read an ARC copy, so this may be corrected in the final copy, if not, don't say I didn't warn ya! Ha. The story takes place in Ireland, so the language used is as such. (Just something to keep in mind while reading.)

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley.

the rachel incident feels much smaller in scale than what the title and the description led me to believe, but that doesn't mean the emotions felt aren't affecting. i think about this idea a lot, about how being content should be the endgame, but it never seems to work itself out that way when you're in the moment. this is what the rachel incident felt like to me while reading and i couldn't wait to find out more. i just wished the characters didn't feel as archetypal. however, i liked how the author covered what getting an abortion was like in Ireland in 2010 and even now. it reminded me of reading happening by annie ernaux in some ways.

this book was an ode to the chaos of your early twenties when everything feels dramatic and friendship is quite literarily the only thing holding you together. rachel and james’ quasi-domestic partnership reminded me of the very best parts of living with my best friend in the whole world—hi, david, i love you—i truly smiled so much throughout this entire novel. preorder because you absolutely do not want to miss this gem of a novel.

[High 3.5 stars]

The Rachel Incident follows our titular character, Rachel, as she navigates her college and post-college life in Cork, Ireland. Rachel is an "ordinary" Cork girl - she works at the local bookstore, is pursuing a degree in English, and lives in a less-than-desirable apartment. This is someone you instantly relate to and form a bond with quickly. Throughout the novel, the reader learns more about what makes Rachel unique - and helps the reader embrace their unique path in life, too. The Rachel Incident reminds us all what it's like to begin our lives and navigate all the challenges thrown our way (even if the challenges aren't quite the same).

I had no idea what to expect going into this one but, I was pleasantly surprised! I love literary fiction that discusses coming-of-age and transitional life themes, so this was immediately up my alley. I enjoyed reading about Rachel and everyone in her life, but I didn't feel ~as~ connected to her and her story as I would have liked. I could relate to her in many ways, but maybe it's because I grew up in New England, not Ireland. However, the read is entertaining and makes you root for Rachel - especially in her love life. Because I could not connect with her story well, I often forgot who people were or what was going on when I had to put the book down for an extended period. I really enjoyed this book but, I just wish I felt more connected to the story as a whole.

I'm a fan of Ireland and the 2000's so this book was solidly in my wheelhouse. Loved the realistic portrayal of college students who spend more time partying than studying. Rachel and James have a friendship for the ages and I enjoyed going along for their ride into adulthood.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was very Sally Rooney-esque but with a bit more humor. I love slice of life/coming of age books. and this was just that. The writing was great, and in particular the dialogue was so on point. I found myself (literally) LOLing quite a bit.

I found the ending kind of unnecessary...but overall a really great read.

my enjoyment of this came from liking a lot of little things, and those little things culminating into one big enjoyment.

i really liked the writing in this one - i felt like it was sharp and witty but still down to earth. i felt totally and completely connected to rachel and james, and all the characters that weaved in and out of their lives. rachel is a flawed character, but she’s not afraid of pointing that out to her readers, and that’s something quite special.

the setting, a small town in ireland, was so perfectly described and i learned a lot about this time period and the recession in ireland.

i couldn’t relate to a lot of what goes on in this book, but i could understand it, and i think that’s wonderful achievement.

i would recommend to check out the trigger warnings for this one before picking it up.

I read this one in a 24 hour span and it was an absolute banger. It's a gorgeous novel about the sometimes crazy, sometimes boring, sometimes wonderful parts of growing up in your 20's. Caroline O'Donoghue gives us a unique take on this time during 2010's Ireland.

This novel features an absolutely beautiful friendship, all kinds of love, and the many things one faces when growing into an adult in their early 20's. The story begins with Rachel attending a university while making money at a local bookstore. It is at this quaint bookstore that she meets her soon to be best friend, (and soon to come out of the closet), James. After only a few weeks of knowing each other, they move in together and learn to "adult" together. The true meat of the story starts when Rachel develops a crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne. She finds out from him that he is writing a book and convinces him and her boss to hold a book signing at the bookstore. Dr. Byrne's wife is in attendance, and we are "off to the races" as they say. In the middle of all of this, Rachel falls in love with another guy names James, but calls him by his last name, Carey, as she "already has a James in her life." The rest of the story is JUICY and involves all of the characters listed above.

To say I couldn't put this one down would be an understatement. I absolutely needed to know the next part of Rachel's life and could not/ would not put my book down. The desperation to know more felt similar to a great thriller without all the scary moments. This is something I rarely find in a contemporary fiction novel. I would highly recommend starting this one when you feel you have some time to dedicate yourself. Caroline wrote from Rachel's perspective so well, that I could have genuinely believed this was a true story. Her writing was both easy to relate to and hilarious in places I didn't expect.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I promise these characters will stay with you for a long time to come and you will wish you had more of their stories.

Things to note: there were some "spicy" moments in this novel. Nothing crazy for a classic romance reader like myself, but worth noting. Please also know there are mentions of miscarriage, abortion, trouble getting pregnant, and infidelity.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, & Anchor, and the author for the ARC of The Rachel Incident! Expected release date: June 27, 2023.