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.

A somewhat directionless English major, Rachel , falls for her professor. Her best friend and roommate James, is part of her scheme to seduce him, but it doesn't necessarily work out how anyone plans. Set in Cork during a time of economic distress, this novel was compelling and definitely twisted the narrative I expected into a different story entirely.

THE RACHEL INCIDENT by Caroline O’Donoghue (pub date Jun 27!)

4.75 STARS

✨ FOR FANS OF: coming of age novels, Dolly Alderton, Sally Rooney, GIRLS, anyone who loves a good “messy gal stumbling through her 20s” book.

⭐️WHAT IT’S ABOUT: a slice of life novel about two Irish 20-year-olds-- Rachel, a uni student in Cork, & James, her closeted gay best friend-- who fumble through complex relationships with adulthood, each other, & the English professor they both become obsessed with. Told in retrospect, an older Rachel explores the tangled web of her relationship with James, Dr. Byrne, Aideen, & Carey to more closely consider a time in their lives that has come to be known as “the Rachel incident.”

⭐️WHAT I LIKED: oh man, reading this book felt like Caroline O’Donoghue crawled into my brain. I binged this in less than 24 hours! the writing is sharp, hilarious, & just plain fun while still hitting on hard topics & deep emotions. Carey was my favorite character, but all of them felt real & distinct. The whole novel was well-balanced & I couldn’t stop laughing out loud.

⭐️WHAT I DIDN’T: Rachel’s relationships with her family felt a bit like a last-minute add & I wish that they had been fleshed out a bit more— some scenes with her family seemed tacked on and unrelated, but maybe that was the point. Mainly, I wanted more time with these characters! I would definitely read another book from Rachel’s perspective on another time in her life.

⭐️OVERALL: a strong contender for one of my favorite reads of 2023. O’Donoghue’s writing style scratches an itch in my brain & I’m excited to read her other works. Special thanks to @aaknopf, @vintageanchorbooks, & @pantheonbooks for the advanced reader copy!

You can find me on @wellredphd for more book reviews!

‼️ Check trigger warnings, as always.

4.5 Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy

I had much anticipation going into this book, but the marketing department let me down. Don't get me wrong, this was a fantastic read, but it was different from what it was marketed as. I heard a lot of comparisons to Zevin's Tomorrow, and to read this if you ever had an internship in publishing that didn't pay you. As a young publishing professional trying to make a career as a freelance editor after many an unpaid or underpaid internship, I jumped when this galley was offered to me. Still, this book is not about that, and it's a disservice to say it is. I think one of my favorite quotes in the book sums up the best what this book is really about: "I was paranoid the way only people of my generation are paranoid, that I was about to be publicly derided by an unseen, online mass for ideological crimes committed as a teenager."

The Rachel Incident is now logged into my mind in one of my favorite overly specific genres: Irish women writers writing about relationships, class, and the total collective dissatisfaction in the early 2000s. I know this immodestly brings up Rooney comparisons, but O'Donoghue is standing perfectly on her own with her prose and approach. We follow Rachel, as our narrator, as she stumbles out of college into a 2008 recession in Ireland without any job guidance or prospects besides her intense love (non-romantic) for her gay best friend, James. From the beginning of their friendship, working at a local bookstore, until the end of the book, Rachel's life is centered around their connection. This book is beautiful but not flowery; it discusses the intense qualities of long-lasting friendships and how they are ever-changing, the loyalty that they require, and how for most of your life, you may not realize that you have been the storyteller instead of the main character. I highly recommend this book, and it deserves the hype!

SPOILERS AHEAD

TWs: Homophobia, Physical Violence, Unwanted Pregnancy, Termination/Loss of pregnancy, Adultery, Inappropriate sexual relationship, discussions of drug and alcohol abuse.

From a literary perspective, the thing that most interested me about The Rachel Incident was this unique idea that the story of our lives isn't really ours; at the very end, I was so deeply connected with both Rachel and James I got a smack on the face when I realized that all the writer was trying to show me (at least that's what I think) is how, even in books, the lives of the people around us are constantly affected by a singular central character that binds them. James is this character, not Rachel, and the beauty of the last chapters is that we see Rachel take the blame for many decisions she didn't make simply by her singular loyalty to James and his journey. In the very end, she says, "This is not my story to tell," and yet on the very first page, we are introduced to this text as a book being written by Rachel, a confession of a year in her life that has forever marked her as 'the girl that slept with her professor' and how even years after in a bar in London, now married and pregnant, this is still a label she is attached too. Yet as we soon discover, Rachel is nothing more than the keeper of James' secret. It was refreshing to see a loyal character; as she keeps being attacked, she never once falls into the trope of tearing everything down; she always prioritizes James, even when he doesn't prioritize her. I related deeply to this and was so impressed when I didn't feel like slamming Rachel; she is such a flawed character, but her consistency in her love for James felt so real that I excused Rachel's actions a lot under that premise.

I think what I got from this book was the kind of recognition that adult friendships are very intense too, and that not everyone is a prick to one another all the time; sometimes, we do just simply want to give love freely and realize that we need to let someone go so they can fully reach their potential. I am so used to representations of friendships as either inconsequential or extremely toxic that I saw how Rachel's admiration for James was so easily nurtured without needing to reduce her own story to it. I look forward to reading more from O'Donoghue, and I salute her beautiful nod to the role of the storyteller beyond the main character; it was beautifully executed. I'll leave you with my favorite quote in the entire book, which reflects the writer's and the book's timeliness and thoughtfulness. The text is about the political narrative around abortion in Ireland. It discusses the hurdles many women have endured to safely reach medical care, but that (unintentionally?) reflects this entire story so beautifully "It was bad, but it was familiar, like a fairy story at its most savage and transcribed from the original Danish."

This is the story about being young and in your 20s and the mistakes you make at that age. Rachel and her best friend James live in Cork and work at a bookstore. They’re like any 20-something year olds - a little lost, a lot broke, drinking like one does at 20, and displaying extraordinarily bad judgment, also as one does at 20. It’s a beautiful tribute to friendship and growing up.

You can tell this is from the author of Promising Young Woman, it is another riveting tale of a woman on the brink. Gorgeously and propulsively written, this is incredible.

I expected more given the reviews of this book. There were a few bright spots in the writing and the story was compelling but it was primarily very sad. My overwhelming takeaway was about the cruel way in which the world makes assumptions about women and then those same women are punished for the world's assumptions.

I really, really enjoyed this. Rachel as a character and narrator is so believable. I really felt invested in her story, which is something that can be difficult to achieve with this kind of story. It's not necessarily a story with a big climax, it's more just a reflection on a particular event and all the things that led up to it. Highly recommend.

Rachel lives with her flatmate James, who is her best friend. The two of them have troubles with romantic relationships, trying to make a living during an economic downturn, and figuring out life—they are both in their early twenties at the beginning of the novel.

This is a compelling and original novel about how friendships and romantic relationships and our relationship to ourselves change over time.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 2, 2023.

Young life, college graduation, roommates, and friends. Loves, losses, reconnecting. Jobs, moving, living arrangements. This is a nice chronicle of Rachel’s life as a young adult, her subsequent growing up and learning to get on in the world as a real adult. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Ahhhhhh!!!!!! All I can say is I was incredibly enthralled by the characters, Rachel and Deenie in particular. Rachel is extremely flawed, but I found myself seriously relating to her. There are entire sections that I felt were plucked directly from my head. Codependency, for example, was shown so well through her internal thoughts and dialogue between her and james. It was all so incredibly honest.

Again, Rachel did some bad things and none of them are excusable and still, I wanted Rachel to win so badly. I wanted her to get what she wanted. I hated who she hated, loved who she loved, was obsessed with all the same things. I wanted her to seek out petty revenge from everyone who'd ever made her feel small even though it wouldn't be fair. I wanted the (mostly) good people in this story to be bad because that would’ve made loving Rachel so much easier. She was self aware in the most dangerous way, in that she can pinpoint her role in hurting others and feels hopeless about it. At the same time, you can’t deny that she’d been used. And punished. It was pretty heart wrenching to read how she was treated at the graduation, all based on a lie to spare someone else. It just felt so horrible. I don’t know how else to explain it.

Nearing the end, I realized that resolution is what I wanted for everyone. Despite the turmoil Deemie suffered, it was incredibly fulfilling to see how things changed with her. I don't know if I would've coped as healthily as her, so I respect her character so much. Ultimately, I think this book teaches you to cope with people's shitty behavior (even your own!) with empathy and context. Every bad decision we make is to protect ourselves or others. That doesn't make it any better. But it helps us understand why we keep messing up and hurting people. I think that's all we can do.

Apart from plot/characters, the pacing of this was what helped me get through this so quick. I would prepare for a long chapter, only for it to fly by without me noticing. Each chapter, no matter how long, transitioned so smoothly and was easy to breeze through. The last few chapters feel a bit rushed because it skips time so quickly. However, I think the quickness was necessary to get to the last chapter without giving unnecessary detail over a longer span of time.

The writing itself is the most impressive part to me. It was so witty and the 'drama' was so fleshed out. I was invested in every single relationship, in every single slip-up or obstacle. It was also just so versatile. It was devastating and funny and complicated. I've read too many books that are so invested in plot, they forget to say something important in a hard-hitting way. Some people are great at making interesting/unique concepts for stories, some people truly understand the craft of writing. O'Donoghue is great at both and it feels effortless in my opinion.

The endings of chapters were also so so interesting to me. I think landing on 'mundane' images or statements to move forward works really well in stories like this. A really intimate moment cannot end on something explosive or dramatic. It works so well when these moments end on the fineness of tea leaves, on the printed-off email tucked somewhere, on a kiss planted on a neck. Writing poetry is one of my favorite things ever and this is usually my go-to way to end poems. Devastate them with a lasting image that pulls in their senses, something that grounds them.

I love love loved this novel. It was just genuinely refreshing. I also just have this weird urge to cry silently whenever a main character seems to resolve their issues and get closure (maybe because I'm living vicariously through them?). So I did a little bit of crying with this one and that was so satisfying.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is a beautifully told story of losing and finding oneself. The story revolves around Rachel Murray, a twenty-one-year-old Irish university student who develops close relationships with three men, including her married English professor, Dr. Byrne. Tensions rise when a shocking secret threatens everything they hold dear.

The book has a realistic portrayal of a young woman's experiences and I found myself relating to Rachel often times than I expected. Despite the novel's complex themes of love, friendship, and betrayal, the book is a quick and easy read that will transport you back to the early 2010s. I also appreciate how the author handles sensitive topics with great nuance such as abortion.

Overall, The Rachel Incident is a fascinating young adult drama and I think the writing is superb! I will definitely check out other Caroline O'Donoghue's books and read them ASAP!

I am recommending this book to every early twenty something year old I know who’s struggling with “real life”. This coming of age story really hits home and pulled at my heartstrings. I found myself invested in the characters more than I thought I would be in the end.