Overall very unlikeable characters and storylines. I found Rachel, James D. & James C. to be immature, selfish, self-absorbed, lacking in self esteem and devoid of common sense. It was truly scary to find that she would become a parent in the plot. The best part of this book and the one positive, however, was Rachel's steadfast loyalty and the strength of her friendship with James D. through thick and thin. While this book turned out to not be my 'cup of tea', it did provide me with some insight into the mindsets of Rachel's generation. Thank you to NetGalley for the read.

My first read of O'Donoghue's and an incredible start - The Rachel Incident tells a coming of age story of a Millennial girl in Cork, at the peak of the financial crises. It is also a love story, a journey of self discovery and acceptance and a tale of the lack of reproductive healthcare in Ireland.

I adored this book! It was so relatable - parts of the story felt like being with old friends. As a young girl on the precipice of adulthood - Caroline O’Donoghue perfectly describes the insecurities, feelings, passions and the absolute mess of entering the adult age!

This book quickly got my attention and made me interested in the characters and their lives. I like the way O'Donoghue shapes her sentences. It feels a little snappy.

this is definitely women’s fiction and reminds me a lot of sally rooney novels for its britishness and overall unique style of writing. really focuses on the way someone thinks and their deepest, most intimate, obsessive, sometimes intrusive thoughts. didn’t really have any emotional effect on me besides one moment when the rachel does something simply world-shattering but no spoilers! thank you to netgalley and knopf for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I am always pretty quick to add modern college novels to my "to read" pile, and I was especially happy with this one--it adds a fresh twist to the professor/student relationship plot (which is not always easy to do--it is, admittedly, a little stale). I appreciate how The Rachel Incident develops the complexity of coming of age, infidelity, friendship, love, and a spiraling economy without being trite or superficial. It feels especially sharp now, in 2023, right at the edge of another economic recession not unlike the early 2000s.

Rachel's lack of female friendships is frustrating, and it's clear she's frustrated with it as well. This adds to the complexity of her decisions, I think, when her closest companions are men who care about her very much, but lack a nuanced understanding of her motives.

All of the characters are deeply flawed, but not so much that we despise them. Instead, we are left thinking critically about how they respond to what's put in front of them.

Rachel's resolution is really sweet and satisfying, after everything she had been through. I wish that the same could be said for James. His heartbreak was really touching. I loved this character and would absolutely read a similar novel centered on him instead of Rachel.

My favorite aspect overall was getting to experience how Carey and Rachel misunderstood each other so fundamentally--both assumed the other's distance was because of lack of interest (or an interest in others), when in reality they were doing what they thought was best for their partner. The author's slow, subtle way of developing their relationship, which, thankfully, never turns toxic, is refreshing.

Overall, I give it four stars. I'd read this again, and I'm interested in engaging with more of what O'Donahue has written.

It wasn't just the post-Great Recession Irish setting that made The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue call to mind Normal People by Sally Rooney, but it definitely didn't hurt. More than that, though, both books prompted me to consider and reflect on my own coming-of-age during the 2010s and the relationships that defined that decade. In the way the best novels do, The Rachel Incident features engaging characters living lives that feel familiar but help us to transcend our own experiences and connect to others.

Through Rachel's narration, I recognized so many of my own thoughts and experiences during the 2010s; O'Donoghue's precise prose struck me more than once by the way in which she captured sentiments that seemed so perfectly meant for me that I had to remind myself that I wasn't the only person who went to college, fell in love, set up our my first apartment, and had to figure out adulthood post-recession.
I imagine this book will be a popular summer reading choice given how honestly it deals with relevant social, cultural, and political issues against the backdrop of Rachel and James's friendship, and I will definitely be one of the people recommending it.

Thanks to Caroline O'Donoghue, Knopf, and #NetGalley for providing a digital Advance Reader Copy of #TheRachelIncident, available June 27, 2023.

Loved this book- so very hilarious and touching. A very readable story that confronts big themes in a beautiful way.

I debated claiming this from NetGalley, because it's Irish "New Adult" and I saw several reviews compare the work to Sally Rooney, an author I do not enjoy. That said, I'm glad I gave in and gave this a read. It really did not feel similar to Sally Rooney all that much.

The Rachel Incident is a coming-of-age novel about Rachel Murray, her roommate and best friend James, and how their lives intersect with a Professor at Rachel's university, Fred Byrne, his wife and all the mess in between. Rachel is our narrator and is straight forward and unflinching in her discussion of her early 20s and the choices she made.

Granted, I am American, but this still felt like what is likely an accurate representation of being a certain aged Millennial in Ireland during economic and social changes. I enjoyed being immersed in Rachel's life, her mistakes and challenges, and triumphs.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

I hate to be that person but this was a DNF for me. I did not like the writing style from the very first page and it was just cringy but it may be good for you

Rachel is 21 and trying to figure out life when one pivotal year changes everything. The year is 2010 and the setting is Ireland where we follow the complex relationships between Rachel, her best friend James, and her professor. What events will butterfly effect out and how will it all end?

This is a poignant new novel that comes out in June 2023. While not as nostalgic or as woven as Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, it is in the same literary fiction vein. Well worth a spot on your shelf.

Sheesh - did this book take me back to the awkward twenties of my own life!

Rachel’s coming of age story feels similar to so many of ours - lost, misguided feelings, questioning…

It’s a very un-put-downable boom that I couldn’t wait to pick up again!

Told from the perspective of protagonist Rachel Murray, "The Rachel Incident" takes place predominantly in the past, as Rachel looks back on her late college years and the events that led her to the present. As a twenty one year-old in the small town of Cork, Scotland, Rachel finds that most of her present life revolves around roommate James Devlin, a closeted gay man who works at the same bookstore she does, and her literature professor Dr. Bryne, who Rachel develops a fascination over despite knowing that he's married. As many college students are, Rachel has a difficult time keeping her life in order, and watches as the lives as those around her become more and more intertwined - resulting in devastating consequences.

It's difficult to describe this novel as there isn't one clearcut plot; if anything, it's very much a modern coming-of-age in all of the messiness and complexity of today's society. I struggled to get through the beginning half of the novel given the slow pacing and the fact that Rachel's character is difficult to empathize with; a number of her decisions are questionable and morally ambiguous and it wasn't until much later in the novel when she's forced to make a difficult sacrifice did I get invested in her as a person. I would have loved for more focus to be put on her time in London once she gets older and develops her professional and personal life further, as I feel like this period is glossed over.

O'Donoghue's writing style is thoroughly enjoyable and held me throughout the novel, despite my initial doubts about the protagonist as a whole. It's a slow build, but I think many readers will see aspects of themselves in Rachel and the obstacles she faces.

This is one of those books that you get quickly sucked into and next thing you know, it's been two hours and you're unable to put it down. I absolutely loved Rachel from page one. An interesting and complicated MC who is able to honestly reflect on her past? Banger. I thought the past/present changes worked very well and I enjoyed seeing the difference in narrative tone between 20 year old & present Rachel. An interesting novel that really gets the mess your early twenties and an insightful look into "small"-town Ireland.

This is not a 'feel good' book; it is a feel everything book. Reading The Rachel Incident is like looking in a rearview mirror, seeing things with both a hint of nostalgia and the clarity of new information. The past is ever-evolving, seen through the lens of this present and this present and this newest present moment. O'Donoghue's writing is raw and honest and feels more like a memoir than novel.
There is no shortage of slice of life books about messy women coming of age in a time that seems nearly hopeless, with depressingly few job prospects and even fewer dating prospects-- and that's to say nothing about the quality of the limited quantity in either field. But in O'Donoghue's hands, this book excels where other contemporaries languish in their own attempts at importance. Her writing is artful, but without artifice or the frustrating cycle of self sabotage that so often plague the females of these sorts of books. Rachel is not without flaws, but she is not nearly as unbearable as many of the characters who wear their multiple diagnoses and existential ennui on their shirt sleeves.
Perhaps what I loved most about this book, besides Caroline O'Donoghue's writing prowess, is that there is a satisfactory ending. So often, books like this wind up trailing off, without any closure, either as a way of mirroring life or because there was no actual plot, so the author couldn't seem to come to a proper ending. But here, we're given a sense of closure so that the book as a whole feels like it had a purpose and it possessed a north star the entire time.

This has a great sense of time and place, but I couldn't get a grip on the characters. Rachel's slacker university senior year, no-budget partying, and clumsy, selfish relationships kept me at a distance. She is sort of the polar opposite of a manic pixie dream girl—tall, uncertain, and reactive. But we never know enough about the other characters to round out her relationships. Her spiraling and floundering doesn't generate tension, because in the first chapter we learn everything turns out OK. Rachel is happily married and healthily pregnant. James is a successful screenwriter in New York.

Maybe if I was Irish or English, this period piece from the 2010 recession would connect. But it didn't.

A VERY EXCITING JUNE RELEASE that I think should be THE book of the summer. I want to see it at the pool and on planes for beach trips. It has friendship, coming of age, university scandal but also a ton of heart and poignant writing. It is Normal People but with plot. I loved it and need to see the characters on screen. Releases June 27th, thank you @netgalley @czaronline and @aaknopf for the advanced copy!

Nostalgic and bittersweet, this book takes us through the ups and downs of youth, friendship and just figuring your life out. Who can you trust and will the friendships you make stay with you.

Author O’Donoghue writes with such a steady hand, with finely-drawn characters and a real sense of place. It’s a stretch to call this book funny, but I found myself laughing at the perfection of some of her characterizations in a smart, smart book about people making some dumb choices - which is par for the course with lead characters in their very early twenties.

Where the book is incredibly incisive is the fact that the choices its characters make, and the availability of those choices, is always a function of their economic stations and the political environment of Ireland. It’s not a polemic, but it has a sharp perspective on the landscape in which its characters residence.

My only reservation with the book is that it’s a little flabby, development-wise, in its midsection, with not much happening to get the couple of key on-again/off-again relationships out of their rut. But ultimately the book moves forward with confidence and really brings it home in a lovely ending.

Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy.

I found The Rachel Incident to be interesting, engaging, and highly readable. I think it would make an awesome audiobook, as well. I finished college around the same time as Rachel with a degree that wasn't very marketable during the 2008 crash. I haven't read clever, heartwarming, and realistic books that focused on what it was like being a college student, on the cusp of graduation, knowing there were minimal job prospects. I love Rachel's relatability. She is smart, funny, kind of a mess, but working towards some sort of future. The topic of sexuality is also accurate. James coming out, but not really coming out, was pretty spot on for the time period. I enjoyed how each character was a little lost. No one was cookie cutter and that reflected the struggles of the '08 crash much more accurately than the cookie cutter ideals of a degree in finance, internship, and six figure job immediately out of college. I loved this book and will recommend to all. 4.5/5

The Rachel Incident, by Caroline O'Donoghue, was basically a one-sitting read for me. The plot's twisty and emotional, full of realistic early-twenties intensity, with a much-older professor, who's really chasing that early-twenties vibe.

For me, characters are the driving force of most fiction. When I enjoy a novel, I'm invested in their choices and in what happens next. I don't need to like all the characters, though, and The Rachel Incident is full of characters veering into unlikeable territory, all these people doing unpleasant or unlikable things for terribly realistic reasons. I loved the intensity, even as part of my brain screamed geez, no, what are you doing? How could this possibly end up well? at Rachel, at James and, actually, all of the characters.

Rachel and her bookstore coworker James fall into an intense college-age friendship, almost immediately becoming roommates and besties, spending every minute together.  Rachel has a crush on her married professor, and sets up a reading at the bookstore for his obscure new book. No, actually, I didn't buy that she wanted to have sex with him, more that she wanted to be him -- literary, successful, adored. Their romance doesn't take off, but the night of the reading takes an unexpected turn for Rachel, setting the rest of the story in motion and leading to a series of secrets, compromises, and revelations over years in her life.  It's wild, but the intensity is also realistic, in the way that attending or skipping one party in our twenties can change a life's course for years to come.

The Rachel Incident is mostly character-driven, with complicated, believable relationships, but it also contains clever, realistic observations on class and on literary culture.  There is an entire load of angst, secrets, and manipulation to get there, but at one point Rachel has a lit internship and she wants both to get the creative success she sees around her, and also, if she's so on track for that, to finally earn some freaking money.

Look, the angst and the drama is all real, and I loved it, but there's a scene at the end in which Rachel describes her writing career as an underpaid good time, where occasionally a company will send her a promo scarf. I have never heard low-level creative life summed up so well. Writing, in fiction, is almost always about a character telling their deepest darkest truths and turning that into money and acclaim. Or it goes the absolute other way, and the artist refuses all money to stay true to their artistic vision. It was amazing to read about a character who was using her lit background, thinking about books and pop culture, enjoying the fringe benefits, and getting small checks from it.

It was also a solid resolution to the story, bringing out characters through to a stage of low drama and low(er) intensity, long after the Rachel incident.