I am rounding up from a 3.5. Rachel lives in Cork, going to University for an English degree. At her part time job she meets James, a charismatic man who might be gay and they become best friends and housemates. Rachel has a crush on one of her professors who wrote a book and in an effort to get closer to him she, with James's help, offers to do a book launch but then she discovers James and the professor sharing an intimate moment. Things get kind of crazy after that and add in an unreliable boyfriend for Rachel who is also James but she calls him Carey. I felt the characters were pretty well developed. I wish I had known more about their backgrounds. I didn't like Rachel much. She was only 20 and part of it was being on her for the first time and sowing wild oats but there were things that she did that just had me scratching my head. It was an easy and quick read. I was never quite sure where the plot was going and I felt that it just wrapped up to quick and neat especially considering all the chaos of all their lives in the beginning. I did enjoy it and would recommend it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for providing me with a digital copy.

The Rachel Incident is a dual timeline book about Rachel and her friends while in their 20's and how it shaped their future. While there were some parts of the book I did enjoy quite a bit such as the beginning of Rachel's friendship with James, the majority of the book fell a bit short for me. There were great topics in here that ultimately weren't fleshed out to the point I was hoping. I think parts of the dual timeline caused some of that for me.

Now married and pregnant, Rachel recalls student life in Ireland.
It is reckless and cringeworthy with all the bad decisions your early twenties can make. Brought into her orbit are the Jameses( one her roommate, the other her lover) and her professor Dr Byrne and his upper class wife. Caught up in secrets and lies it culminates in the “incident” which crashes all these relationships. The story is told with honesty and from the perspective of the older Rachel, and it reminds us how we thankfully change and grow.
Honest review for advanced copy, thanks to netgalley and Knopf publishers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for this ARC! This was my first read by Caroline and I love how she writes. The way this story was written was so thought out and put together! I found Rachel to be a relatable and completely lovable character. Fans of Sally Rooney will definitely enjoy this book. I can’t wait to read more from Caroline in the future!

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is a coming of age story, and so much more. It tells the story of Rachel and James, roommates by chance who become lifelong best friends.

For the first half of the book I was thinking, "This is a fun book, Rachel and James are two young adults eking out a living and having fun doing it," but then the story took a turn, and I the consequences of their choices threatened their futures. The 'incident' for which the book is titled was upsetting and surprised me, and it made me angry with several of the characters. The resolution in the last few pages of the book was well done, and brought things full circle for me in the end.

I struggled a bit with Rachel's narration from the present day when she is married with a child and telling of past events. This was just a minor, temporary confusion until I figured out what was going on again on a few occasions. I thought the author's presentation of the abortion issue was informative without being preachy on either side, and brought up some good points on the debate. I do take issue with the statements that describe the book as humorous or funny--Even though I liked the book very much, I saw absolutely zero humor in the situations or relationships.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for the digital ARC of The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. The opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you AKnopf for the ARC - out 27 June!

The one where your gay bff sleeps with the professor you were trying to seduce! All very normal and chill!

Within a year of meeting each other, Rachel and James move into together, survive extramarital affairs (not theirs), poverty (theirs), and drunken nights (it’s Ireland). James hasn’t committed to coming out, Rachel can’t commit to any friends other than James, and neither can figure out how to carve out a future separate from the gray call centers and sticky bars that are the only places hiring.

In the depths of the Great Recession and the Irish abortion referendum, O’Donoghue captures a snapshot of a generation faced with few prospects and fewer boundaries. I think that the general vibe is sharply rendered, but the major plot device of the affair between James and Rachel’s professor sometimes adds a layer that doesn’t quite mesh with the life of cash-strapped bohemian filth that James and Rachel are drowning in. There are connections to be made about class and social stratification, but I think those points could have just as easily been made within the context of the friendship between these two instead of adding in a milquetoast tweedman.

Read If:
You survived the Great Recession but are now drowning in therapy bills
Your favorite Taylor Swift song is Getaway Car
You’ve ruined a dinner party.

I was offered a chance to read this via an email from the publisher. I've read about 20% of this book and am choosing to shelve it for now. I don't think it is the right book for me - perhaps someone in a younger generation (i.e., not 40+)? What I can gather is that the story is focused on Rachel and her roommate James + the messiness of young adulthood, making friends, and finding their path in life in 2010's Ireland. It just didn't click for me. The publisher's note at the beginning of the ARC made it sound like this was a can't put down book, but I found myself spending too much time getting lost in the Irish slang and lingo to connect with the characters. I hope to pick this back up in the future, but for now, I will pass.

This was an odd book for me. I did not personally enjoy the first half of this story, but as it progressed, I slowly was drawn in. It still was not my favorite book. There was something about the way it was laid out and about Rachael herself that I just didn’t connect with. I think that the past and present Rachael sometimes did not quite play out as smoothly as I would have liked. I did enjoy the twist that was at the end of the book though. This book deals a lot with growth. Growth as a person, as someone who knows their worth, and as someone who realizes that while friendship might at the time seem to be an end all be all it can be a crutch that doesn’t allow you to see those around you. I will say that this book is very realistic, which many readers will enjoy. It is raw there is no sugar coating the experiences that Rachael and James go through.
Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

I'm in the minority here but this book just wasn't for me. Found I didn't care for the characters much and just couldn't connect with them at all, although I have to say that I did like James more than I liked Rachel. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind while reading this book and that's why it just didn't click for me. I ended up skimming through the book quickly just to get to the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. A coming-of-age tale set in the early 2000s in Cork, Ireland, Rachel is the kind of messy, recognizable character that simultaneously makes me miss my early 20s and be very glad that they’re done.

The titular incident is compelling and satisfyingly gray, but it's the characters and their relationships that are the driving beat of this story. I loved them all and wish I could have stayed within their world just a little longer.

Read if you like: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, Fleabag, feeling nostalgic for the worst part of your life

This is probably one my favourite books I’ve read this year. If you liked ‘Conversations with Friends’ you’ll love this. It is a funny, touching coming of age story which perfectly encapsulates the messiness of being 20, falling in love, trying to be independent and making the wrong choices.

Our main character Rachel, is an English Student living in Cork. She meets, James, a gay man who has yet to make this public knowledge and they quickly become best friends. James begins an affair with Rachel’s professor, the married Dr Byrne and she is suddenly pulled into the lying and scheming. She soon meets another James, Carey, as she refers to him and begins a relationship that can only be described as complicated.

I felt myself very invested in all of these characters. Their flaws are actually one of the main reasons I found them so relatable. Rachel makes awful decisions multiple times throughout, however, her naivety became endearing. Partly because we all have been that 21 year old trying to make sense of the world around us.

The way O’Donohuge tells the story through the eyes of an older Rachel was captivating. As years have matured her, it was interesting to see Rachel go back to her 21 year old self and relive the events only this time with the wonderful gift of hindsight.

O’Donohue writes with such vivid detail that it is very easy to feel like a fly on the wall. The quick witted dialogue went further in bringing characters to life. I found myself laughing at interactions and feeling the anguish Rachel feels at different events.

This is truly a wonderful book that takes on bold themes and many emotions. Definitely one I would recommend

This book was not for me. If I knew what "incident" in the title was about, I would not have picked this book up. But by the time the plot got around to the actual moment, it was too late for me to DNF.

The writing is fine. Rachel and her friends are just aimless, degenerates for most of the story. Most of the choices they made were awful. I felt bad for Carey and Deenie and felt like both of them should have gotten the hell away from these people.

But just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. It reminded me of Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends. If you liked that, you'll probably like this.

Review will be posted on Insta by publication date (@ellie.reads.a.lot)

THIS BOOK!!! Wow- I ended up listening to the audiobook and I could NOT stop listening. Narration is fantastic- in Irish accents no less!

Onto the book itself- Have you ever finished a book, loved it, but didn't really know why?? That happens to me quite often and this was one of those books. It heavily involves infidelity which I typically HATE, however this one sucked me in. There's much more to the story, specifically a strong friendship, which was lovely, This storytelling takes "coming of age" to a new level. I really really felt that spirit of your 20s when you're figuring your life out. There were some laugh out loud moments and AHH overall I just loved it. Well done, O'Donoghue on what I think is her debut novel?!

I wanted to love The Rachel Incident, but ultimately this book fell a bit flat for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters in the way I wanted. The writing was really sharp and I really liked that this book was set in Cork! I look forward to reading more from this author!

While this was a quick and engaging read, I have to say the first three-quarters of the book just didn't sit well with me. I didn't find any of the characters very endearing and I felt like nothing really happened. With that said, the ending redeemed the book for me. Who knows...others will likely have a very different opinion.

When the books started, I really thought I would love it. Rachel is a student that has a crush on one of her professors. She works in a book shop with her best friend, James, and the create a book event to lure the professor in and it turns out he is far more interested in James.

The rest of the book is mostly the relationship between James & Rachel and how they navigate together the relationships with significant others. They are entwined in each other's lives for better or worse. A situation comes up where Rachel even resorts to extortion and I really did not like her after that. I know that she was in a desperate situation, but it really did not sit right with me. It could be that I was already not a fan of hers. However, I did really like James and kind of didn't understand why he stayed such a close friend to Rachel.

Sometimes the events in life that seem destructive and devastating can turn out to set you on your intended path. Rachel’s journey seems to be filled with odd choices that aren’t moving her towards the career and personal life. But she loves the life she has chosen with her best friend James. He is the person she loves most and the one with whom she shares every detail of her daily life and often her decisions. James will never be the focus of her sexual life since he gay but that doesn’t change her love for their life together. Rachel has a crush on one of her professors and she plans book signing event for the professor at the bookstore where she and James work. But that event sets a cascade of circumstances that turns both Rachel’s and James’ lives in a new trajectory that will try their friendship and their journeys. Twists and turns of friendships, lovers, betrayals and crushing loss. The book you cannot put down until you know what becomes of them all.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is a highly recommended coming-of-age novel about friendship and love set in Cork, Ireland.

The novel opens up in 2022 with Rachel pregnant and then quickly jumps back in time to 2009 when college student Rachel Murray first met James Devlin. Rachel and James both work at a bookstore and it is love and the start of an intense friendship at first sight. The two soon become roommates and as they experience the nightlife around Cork while the threat of a financial crisis emerges. When Rachel admits her crush on her married professor Dr. Fred Byrne, the two conspire to set up a reading of his book at the bookstore. Instead of Rachel trying to flirt with the professor, the event results in the unexpected entanglement of James and Dr. Byrne. This relationship results in complications between Rachel and James with the professor and his wife. Adding to the turmoil is Rachel's boyfriend, James Carey.

This is an in-depth character study, with a focus on young adult friendships continuing into adulthood. Neither Rachel nor James are particularly lovable characters. They can be humorous, engaging, and dramatic. They are both in the midst of growing into becoming the adults they will become while trying to navigate their current drinking and late night parties with living expenses and planning for some sort of future career. Really, this is about mistakes you make when you are young and revisiting them as an adult.

The first half of the narrative essentially captures the delayed adulthood of these characters, as Rachel looks back on these years. The development of the plot starts out rather slow and doesn't pick up until later in the novel. That is also when the characters begin to display more depth. 3.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Knopf Doubleday via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

This was a fun book dealing with love and friendship. The book is filled with humor and I really liked it!

Description:
Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork city, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them.

When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterwards. But Fred has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected, bourgeois wife. Aching with unrequited love, shot through with delicious, sparkling humor, The Rachel Incident is a triumph.

My thoughts:
James is hilarious - what a great character! The characters draw you into their world and become real. I enjoyed the friendship between Rachel and James. Their love lives seemed part real and part fantasy as their relationships played out. A fun book to read and an interesting plot.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 27, 2023.

A thoroughly captivating homage to platonic love and all of its potential. Rachel and James felt so real, I felt like I was there in their little ant-filled apartment with them. I love this journey of self-discovery and the way Rachel is allowed to be imperfect by the narrative. Brilliant story