5 stars! This book is fantastic. I highly recommend it.

I'm obsessed with going into books blind, as much as possible. Knowing little about this book's plot certainly added to my obsession with it. I raced through the book until late at night because I NEEDED to see how it would end!

But it's not a spoiler to tell you that this book is narrated from the perspective of elapsed time. By that I mean, the narrator, Rachel, is reflecting back on something that happened in her life when she was in her early 20s. She offers her younger self grace, even though she's grown and is a different person now. Can't we all relate to our 20-year-old selves feeling like a totally separate person from who we are now?

Somehow, Carolyn O'Donoghue crafts a masterful flow between exposing how Rachel saw things as it happened back then, while also showing growth and changes in perspective with age. Rachel's insight is razor sharp and extremely well written.

I was just so impressed with this book on every level! I think it could make for an interesting book club conversation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Rachel is living in London these days. And yet she is still sometimes known as the student who allegedly had an affair with Professor Fred Byrne when she lived in Cork, even if she never did sleep with him. This book is about what really happened. This book is about many things. It’s about two best friends, Rachel and James living in Cork during Rachel’s uni days in their early 20s, trying to gain an English Degree during the 2000s recession and later abortion rights for Ireland.

If you want to delve into a story that reminds you perfectly of your uni days, this book is perfect. I was a little slow in the first chapter to figure out the story to come, but I absolutely adored this book! I felt like I was best friends myself with Rachel and James as though I was living with them in Cork. Beautifully written, it has that flavour of Sally Rooney’s Conversations With Friends with two young people becoming friends with people in an older stage of their life living in Ireland, fear not if you’re not a Rooney fan - the writing and story is still distinctly its own. For Rooney fans - it has that same beautiful feeling of being in your 20s in Ireland.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Patheon, Vintage and Anchor Publishing for this ARC!

Such a beautiful book. The pace was slow but it was perfect for the story. This is one of those stories where you don’t know where it’s going but you keep reading because you have to know how it ends.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

An okay escapist read. Unrealistic and unrelatable characters, situations and dialog. Not recommending and won't read again.

Rachel Murray is an English major, working at a book shop and living in Cork when she meets her new best friend James. Together they hatch a plot for Rachel to hook up with her favourite English professor. The results of the plan are unexpected and long-reaching. This is about a being a specific age (early 20s) at a particular time and place (Ireland after the 2009 financial collapse). It's a coming-of-age novel with an aware of how the particular cultural, social, economic milieu in which you in fact come of age shapes what that coming of age looks like -- what is possible, the stories that define you, and so on. Rachel is flawed, and yet, I understand her and the messiness of her choices and desires. The ending might have been a bit rosy, but overall I loved this book. It was a perfect summer read, a good combination of juicy and thoughtful. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I really had no idea what to expect when I cracked open this book--I was wonderfully delighted by the unfolding story looking at the dynamics of best friendship, love, infidelity, rumors, and class in small town Ireland in the early aughts.

The Rachel Incident follows the antics of Rachel Murray, a young woman graduating from university just as the economy tanks. Rachel is a dynamic and engulfing main character, pulling the reader into her world: working in a bookstore, ridiculous nights with her bestie James in their depressingly broken down apartment, and her first heartbreak, also from a man named James. Bestie James drags Rachel into the undertow of a propulsive relationship he has with a married man, which skews the direction of her entire future. Rachel also deals with the struggles of so many women in a place with restrictive reproductive justice laws. O'Donoghue writes about and seamlessly threads in current issues with an urgency that is necessary.

O'Donoghue has a fantastic grasp of time, place, and character. Her writing is both crisp and lyrical. I thoroughly enjoyed this messy queer literary fiction and every place it took me! I can't wait to see what O'Donoghue writes next and return to her Hidden Gifts witchy YA series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All thoughts my own.

CW: infidelity, sexual content, abortion, miscarriage, infertility, vomit.

DNF at 22%

I probably should have realized I wouldn't like this book, since I didn't like what it was compared to. That's on me.

I'm realizing that I just don't like this real life type of writing, especially if I don't like the characters. Man, did I not like these characters.

If you like these kind of books, this is probably a good one for you.

a vibrant and engaging story that makes you laugh

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

This book was a slow start for me. It did hold my interest enough for me to keep at it, and in the end I was glad that I did. I enjoy getting to know the characters and liked both Rachel and James early on. A bookstore as a setting was also a draw for me.
Neither the bookstore setting or the characters developed as I expected. It was actually a bit depressing at times. This may have put me off the book a bit, but I am very glad that I didn't give up. The juxtaposing time line helped me to continue reading, as I held out hope that things would eventually work out by the end of the story. I was not disappointed.
This may be a slow burn, but it wound up being a pretty great read. The ending satisfied my curiosity and was just what I was hoping for.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
If you like stories that make you reflect on your life, that give you this perspective on growing up, on adulting, on all the ups and downs that come with navigating life, you'd like it. Especially if you are a fan of Sally Rooney's type of stories, where the protagonist and their flaws, their quirks, their journey resonate with you not with their extravaganza but with their simplicity, you'd really like The Rachel Incident. The book follows our protagonist, alongside her best friend. Their stories become intertwined. Because, that's how life works, the people we care about, the people who are important in our stories also become woven neatly or sometimes messily into our stories. This book will give you all sorts of feelings regarding growing up. Amongst a historical backdrop, the book perfectly manages to catch us up to the societal condition as well. It reads very nicely. If you love character driven stories, you'd really like it.

Cork City, Ireland in the 2010’s, Rachel is in her senior year of English literature classes at the local college. The economy is struggling and so are her parents. Her very middle class father, a dentist, is devastated that he cannot pay the fees for Rachel’s schooling. She is smart, hardworking and figures out a way to make ends meet. At the local bookstore where she meets James Devlin, a homosexual very deep in the closet with a big beautiful smile and personality to match. They become roommates and spend every moment of their free time together. Rachel and James both work at the bookshop, run wild through the local bars at night while trying not to freeze to death during the brutal Irish winter. Rachel’s crush on her professor Dr. Fred Byrne is the beginning of a rollercoaster ride that changes life forever. Coming of age during the economic recession of 2008 and hurtling through gay rights and abortion issues, Rachel’s intellect and free spirit endure the search for friendship, romance and a future life she never could have imagined.

I loved this book. I agree with the comparisons to Sally Rooney, but I think this was better written. The relationships between all of the characters were detailed extraordinarily well and you felt like you were there with them. The characters grew in so many ways.

The Rachel Incident is an intelligent, witty, and well-executed story about young people being young, making mistakes, and living by emotion. O'Donoghue's characters feel authentic and relatable and they are so richly drawn. The Rachel Incident has been compared to Normal People by Sally Rooney and I can see why -- Irish young people navigating complex relationships, experiencing firsts, and trying to find their footing in an ever-changing world. While I think the comparison is apt to a point, The Rachel Incident feels fresh and unique.

The narrative voice is certainly unlike anything I've read. This novel fits nicely with a group of novels that have gained a lot of attention recently, which feature women narrators grappling with intense emotions and making poor decisions. And yet, I felt like The Rachel Incident was honest in a way that felt like it wasn't trying to push boundaries or feature an "unlikable" woman, but really was showing people's choice culminating in devastating ways or people losing themselves to their proclivities with blatant disregard for how their choices affect others.

I highly recommend this one.

I was unsure of this one for the first 10%. It seemed too weird and the characters were making bad decisions. However, although it was a slow burn, the characters developed into imperfect people that were struggling through emotional and financial crises. The plot wove an intricate web of struggle, deceit, relationships, and the outcomes of bad decisions. I liked the air of mystery surrounding Rachel’s present life and how she turned out. It’s not your typical “feel good” book, but a deep character study of young adults slogging through recession—era Ireland.

Rachel lives in Ireland with her best friend James . They have a deep love for each other but James is gay and having an affair with her professor, who also happens to be her boss's husband. Rachel's own relationship is suffering because of her deep friendship with James and her insecurity. But Rachel is a heroine you just can't help rooting for ... and you keep reading hoping somehow everything will work out.

If you are looking for a good book to binge on, I loved The Rachel Incident so much. It is the story of a woman in her early 20s going to school in Ireland in the late 2000s and struggling to find her way. I cackled. I mean, laughed out loud and snorted. This book was brilliant in its wit and snarky one-liners. All while tackling heavy stories of coming out, abortion rights and feminism. It is all about friendship, love, family and self-discovery. It felt so real and honest with flawed but lovable characters just trying to find their way.

Caroline O’Donoghue creates a story where college and youth idiocy actually turns into something that affects Rachel her entire life.
Rachel is working at a bookshop when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight—best friend love. Bubbly and charming, James is always insisting that he is straight. But Rachel pays it no mind when James asks her to be his roommate. Together, they drink and dance their way through Cork, away from their anxiety of a financial crash. When Rachel develops a crush on her married professor, Dr. Byrne, James helps her put on a reading at the bookshop. The two have the fantasy Rachel might seduce him afterwards but things go in a way no one ever imagined. So begins a series of secrets and delusions that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Dr. Byrne as well as Dr. Byrnes enchanting, well-connected publisher wife.
This book isn’t laugh-out-loud funny. It’s amusing yes. But I also felt secondhand embarrassment for Rachel and that made the book uncomfortable at times. I remember being the age and the mistakes I made as well. I want Rachel to wake up and be her best self. But that is Rachel’s character arc: developing into her best self.
The title confused me until the end. An end that wasn’t completely as closed and detailed as I would have liked. We have watched these characters grow up, but we don’t get to see the fallout from the two people who made the story harder than it had to be, the ones who lied, the ones who created what is known as the Rachel Incident.
This is an average novel. I enjoyed it here and there but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Rachel and James are a dynamic duo, but their worlds get thrown into a frenzy after setting up a book launch for Rachel’s professor so that she can try and seduce him.

This book has all the chaos and emotions that you want you want when you’re feeling nostalgic about your 20s 🥹 and yes I realize I’m only 26 lol but it’s just all about the fun and hectic journey of starting your adult life; of first loves and heartbreaks, having no money, and trying to make the best of times with your best friends.

Wow! As a new reader to Caroline O'Donoghue, I was intrigued and curious about all the hype around THE RACHEL INCIDENT, O'Donoghue's most recent release. I was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for my honest review - and this book does not disappoint!

Rachel Murray is coming of age in Cork, Ireland in the late 2000s - discovering herself, making mistakes, falling in love - and she finds herself entangled in friendships, relationships, and a marriage between her beloved professor and his publisher wife.

This story is utterly captivating and charming, with crisp, beautiful writing and compelling and fully-fleshed characters. I loved Rachel - rooted for her and felt for her - and the cast of characters around her is so wonderfully portrayed. I highly recommend this novel and will seek out O'Donoghue's future work, along with her back catalogue!

A brilliantly, endearing novel about messy 20 year olds, Rachel and her best friend James. Rachel looks back at her early 20s in Ireland, studying to get her English degree while working at a bookstore, with a more mature perspective. When she meets James, they quickly become best friends and have life altering experiences together. With sharp commentary about society and abortion in Ireland, Rachel’s voice will stick in your head long after you’re done reading. This novel is perfectly paced with wonderfully imperfect characters and I loved all of it!