Rachel, James, Carey, and Dr. Byrne all have one thing in common: they want a full and complete love. Their paths all cross while Rachel is in uni, trying to figure her life out. At an initial glance, it seems to be a bland book about a young girl who becomes infatuated with her professor and it takes what feels like forever to get beyond that (reality is it actually only takes like 3 chapters?). However, once the layers start coming apart it all makes for a good story.

The beginning was a bit slow for me so it took all of my effort to not DNF this book. Once the story took a hold on me though, i became fully invested in Carey and Rachel’s relationship and really wanted the best for James (which spoiler alert: was *not* Dr. Byrne).

Def recommend and encourage folks to push through the first 5 chapters. Thank you to Goodreads for the ARC!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed O'Donoghue's prose, There were really funny moments and I found Rachel flawed but interesting. However, I felt that the character James (Rachel's gay best friend) was stereotypical and two dimensional. Not only that but the bisexual character is painted as the typical stereotype of being finicky.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I completely enjoyed this book! It was fun and refreshing and I really connected with all the characters and was rooting for them throughout! I loved learning more about Ireland since I’m from the US and was still able to relate so much to many aspects of life that Rachel experiences. I would definitely recommend to just about anyone, as I feel there’s lots to take away from this story!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This was disappointing for me but unfortunately, I did not finish this. I made it through the first few chapters but it felt wildly over written and thick to me. It may just have been my mood as well but I felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen with this whole student, professor plot. I encourage others to try it because it seems to be well received!

Rachel is trying to figure it all out. When she meets James, she is immediately drawn to him. She assumes he is gay although he says he is not. They become best friends and soon decide to live together. Rachel develops feeling for one of her professors, Dr. Fred Byrne. James helps her set up a book signing for the new book he has written, with the hopes that she can seduce him after the signing. However, things do not work out according to plan.

Dr. Byrne, though married to a former student, takes a liking to James. This starts a chain of events that will impact evryone.

While I am not particularly fond of the Rachel due to her poor and selfish choices throughout the story, she is very real and representative of the bad and good qualities in most people.

Even though it's not the kind of story I usually read, I really did enjoy the story and the writing was superb.

I wish I could read this book over and over, and it would be as great as it was the first time. The two main characters are precious, and their friendship survives years in spite of many painful reckonings.
Rachel meets James at the bookstore where they both work. Their friendship is amazing; their relationship is true, fun, and sincere. This is the kind of friend any human longs for.
Rachel is smitten by her professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, who doesn’t seem to notice she’s there. She and James devise a plan to invite Dr. Byrne to a book signing in honor of his new book. Sparks fly and love is in the air, but not Rachel’s air. It turns out that Dr. Byrne, who is married, is bisexual and begins an affair with dear sweet James, who finally admits that, yes, maybe he is gay.
Rachel takes the high ground, but finds herself in the middle of the affair since she and James share an apartment. This proximity causes numerous issues, and one distinctive issue with Dr. Byrnes’ wife when she realizes where Rachel lives.
Vines of lies and deceit grow and intertwine until Rachel has to throw herself on the knife in order to help others. This magnanimous decision is truly honorable, but she suffers greatly from the fallout.
Entertaining, funny, heartbreaking, with wonderful characters. This book hugged me the entire time.
Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was June 27, 2023. 2023.

This was a wonderful, fun, quick read. It pulled me out of a reading slump and I read it in 2 days, I couldn't put it down. I love Rachel, her friendship with James, her relationship with Carey, the actual "Rachel Incident" was wild and unexpected (to me). I originally requested this on NetGalley because in the description it said for fans of Sally Rooney, and I can see the comparison, but the Rachel Incident was much lighter and funnier to me than Sally Rooney's books.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved every moment of this one. This is the second book I’ve read by Caroline O’Donoghue and I’ve got to say that I would now pick up anything with her name on it. I love her writting style and the characters are so relatable, I thoroughly enjoyed following Rachel and James through their lives with many ups and downs and the sort of student life dramas that we go through. A real page turner, couldn’t put it down!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and the authors writing style, lilting and engaging. It was so easy to drop into the world O’Donoghue created and her characters will stay with me for a long time.

I ended up alternating between reading this hardcopy and listening to it as an audiobook. I really enjoyed the story in both formats. Great way to interconnect the characters. The ending felt a little too unrealistic and tidy, but I enjoyed the rest so much that I was okay with it. I did want one character to be more present towards the end as I missed their dynamic, but again the rest of the story worked really well for me.

I always appreciate the reflection piece in stories and this has it. Rachel tells the story of the specific events of her 20s while in her 30s, so it is a perspective where you understand that “youth” plays into her decisions and actions. I enjoyed the path the story took and look forward to what the author writes next. Will be posting review on Instagram @carolinehoppereads

Funny, page-turning, and unputdownable without relying on tropes of domestic suspense--this is exactly what I want from a contemporary summer read.

Rachel works in a bookshop in Cork. While working there she makes three very different and deep relationships with men named James. I so wanted to love this novel. I had read such good reviews but I was relieved to finish the last page. While entertaining on parts, I struggled to enjoy every part of the novel.

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read Caroline O'Donoghue's The Rachel Incident.
Pub date: June 22, 2023

Facts:
I loved this book so much.
It left me in such a book hangover that nothing I've picked up since can keep my attention.
This is one of my favorite books of the year so far.

Why I loved it:
I can totally see myself in Rachel. Not necessarily because we've experienced the same things, just because I find her relatable and I really fucking like her.
The actual "Rachel Incident" in the book is awesome.
This has a strong LGBTQ+ representation.
I love Coming-of-age novels, especially when the characters come-of-age as adults. Because that's what I did.

What it's about, in a nutshell:
Rachel meets her very heterosexual friend, James while working at a bookstore in Ireland. The two become inseparable and end up moving in together. What follows is the coming-out of James, and the impressively addictive love stories and triangles and dramas of the two friends.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I give this five of the brightest, shiniest stars!

Loved the characterization in this novel. O'Donoghue does an excellent job at capturing the mayhem that is young adulthood. Readers are pulled in with an engrossing storyline led by intriguing, flawed characters. Perfect amount of complexity, writing style, and overall energy. Highly recommended.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheRachelIncident

Rachel, a student finishing her final year of university, meets James, a closeted high school graduate, while working at a bookstore in Cork, Ireland. The 2010 Recession is in full swing, Ireland having been hit particularly hard, and Rachel is unsure what she will do with her English degree after she graduates. Rachel and James develop a quick and tight-night friendship, choosing to move in together when James admits that he is need of a roommate. They tell each other everything and are unfailingly loyal to one another, including and until Rachel tells James about a crush on her married professor. Intending to facilitate their relationship, James organizes a scheme for Rachel to seduce him, but instead ends up in a relationship with the professor himself. Their secret romance sets off a cascade of intertwined events between Rachel, James, the professor, and his well-connected wife as Rachel and James try to figure out the next steps for their future.

This is a beautifully written, expertly crafted, character-driven novel filled with humor. It is the story of friendship, hardship, young adulthood, and discovery. It is an exploration of power dynamics and their fragility. It is filled to the brim with dysfunction but also tenderness, and I loved every second of it.

A nice coming of age story that was a little confusing to read because of the lack of a defined break between the two timelines in the story.
I also wish we got to see a bit more of the "present" timeline, especially leading up to the end. I feel like seeing more of the grown-up characters would've provided a stronger payoff.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I think the story was unique and loved every single moment of it.

I thought that this was a very real picture of the messy lives of early 20-somethings. I found myself relating to Rachel and also hoping that she got it together by the end of the book. There were some shocking things that happened that left my mouth open, but I mean sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. I was happy that the truth came out at the end, I just wish that we actually got to see the second half of the truth being revealed. I did enjoy the writing style and how the friendship between James and Rachel evolved.

Absolutely loved this one. I had no particular expectations going into this, other than the blurb sounded interesting, and what I got was a engrossing story full of flawed but endearing people. Plus, there was a perfect moment 3/4 of the way into the book that made me realize just how invested I'd become in Rachel, James, Carey, Dr. Byrne, and Deenie. It's also full of affection--complicated though it may be--for a moment and place in Cork, Ireland.

Highly recommend.

This was a very character driven book about two characters living in Cork, Ireland on the precipice of adulthood. It deals with some heavy topics so check your trigger warnings.

Synopsis:

Rachel and James met at a book shop they both worked at and were immediately drawn to one another and became the best of friends. James has a secret that he keeps locked away and Rachel is one of the first and only people to learn of it. This secret infringes on Rachel’s crush on her handsome and very intelligent professor that has just written a book.

James and Rachel’s friendship intrudes on both of their romantic relationships and threatens to ruin the relationship in the end.

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this as an audiobook. The Irish narrator was perfect for the Irish setting. Most of the characters are heavily flawed but you can’t help but relate to their struggles. I liked how the author wove Ireland’s social climate at the time in the novel. I highly recommend giving this one a read or listen!