Had a hard time getting into this book or wanting to return to it. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters and the story swung from fairly mundane to completely out there. The jumping between timelines was also confusing, but that may be because I read a digital ARC so it may make more sense in the final version.

Thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

What a sweet, sassy little nut of a book this is. Great voice and sensayuma. Deftly woven, with national politics tucked into modern love stories. Not sure I bought the talk of the town stuff, but otherwise it was a treat.,

The Rachel Incident is a coming-of-age story about a young woman learning about relationships while living in Cork, Ireland. It tells a tale of friendship, love, and growing in your early twenties. The book begins with Rachel Murray attending college while working in a bookstore. There she meets her co-worker, James Devlin. Rachel and James become fast friends and decide to move in together. Most people assume that James is gay, but he has never confirmed or denied it. It doesn’t matter to Rachel either way.

While attending college, Rachel develops a crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne. She finds out that he has authored a book and sets up a book launch at the bookstore she works at. James helps Rachel with the book signing event. Dr. Byrne’s wife, and publisher, Deenie Harrington also helps with the book launch. After the book launch, life begins to become very complex for Rachel.

I highly recommend this book! It reads more like a memoir than fiction. Caroline O’Donoghue writes fully-developed characters that will have you rooting for them. The friendship between Rachel and James is especially compelling. I give it 4/5 stars.

The Rachel Incident is a bittersweet coming of age story about a young woman learning about relationships in Cork, Ireland. I was sent an invitation to read it by the publisher because it’s somewhat similar to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - which was my favourite book of 2022 - the email even includes an endorsement by Gabrielle Zevin, and it’s set around a book shop, so how could I resist? Unfortunately, and rather predictably, this doesn’t quite match up - mostly because the characters are not nearly as appealing, but I still became immersed in Rachel’s story and finished it in a day.

Rachel is a heavily pregnant London journalist who is prompted to reflect on the events of her youth by news about an important figure from her past. As a final year English Literature student, she meets James in the bookshop where they both work part time, and they become best friends. Insecure and awkward, she has a huge crush on her married college professor, and together they conspire for her to seduce him a his book launch - but things don’t go according to plan, and the consequences of this end up changing her life…

Other reviewers have compared this to Normal People - with a dash of Bridget Jones’ Diary, and I can see why. Young Rachel’s behaviour is off-putting but poignantly understandable: “On top of all that, he was the only man I’d met who made me feel petite, and to feel protective over someone who physically towers over you is a hell of a drug.” I’m sure we’ve all done things we look back on with shame and regret, and I liked that we do get to meet her all grown up. This is an Irish story so it’s basically about the complicated hypocritical conflicts about sexuality, sexual behaviour, shame, and of course, abortion. The three significant men in her life at the time, James, Fred, and Carey, all behave abysmally, but as ever, the woman is to blame and pays the price. There’s also a lot about the difficulties faced by young people during the financial crisis - middle class Rachel finds herself with an apparently useless degree after struggling to pay for university, a situation which will resonate with many people I imagine.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf publishing for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
The Rachel Incident is published on June 27th.

I truly wanted to like The Rachel Incident
by Caroline O'Donoghue but I had a very difficult time with all of Rachel's very poor decision making and how she just couldn't seem to do the right thing with her life. She was taken advantage of by her professor, he was a horrible person and the whole vibe of the novel just put me off. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

James and Rachel are the best of friends, if not a bit codependent.

They fulfill each other so completely (except sexually) that their partners have little space to actually be in their lives.

Until James’s affair with Rachel’s married professor explodes in a way that hits Rachel with the shrapnel.

This life changing period drives them apart just enough for them to develop their own lives in different cities but still maintain the friendship.

To be honest, this story would have been so much more interesting with another perspective. Deenie’a particularly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Well… I loved this! The more I read the more I loved and became so invested in the characters. There were parts I related to and parts that were very alien to me but I felt so attached to Rachel by the end that I just didn’t want it to finish. There were some parts I found a bit confusing but they appeared to be to do with the proof copy being a bit difficult to decipher in places, with lack of page structure. But honestly I adored this book and I want more!

Rachel is reflecting on the coming of age period of her early 20s. I really enjoyed this book and the characters in it. I thought it was a little rushed at the end since I wanted the story to keep going and was sad when it ended.

the rachel incident is incidentally everything you think it would be while also subverting the expectations you have for where these characters will go and what they will do. you enter this maze of life with rachel and james and none of you really know where you will come out, except for some rachel post-events narration.
not to cheapen with comparison but.. this book is rooney-esque in its mid 20s protagonists living in ireland with little to no direction in their lives, who struggle with money, struggle with love, and struggle with each other; rachel and james are essentially instant best friends, meeting at work and then going on to live together and living vicariously though each other, until things happen to them that they cannot relate to with each other anymore. sharing a mutual crush on a professor, navigating bumpy relationships with others and with each other, trying to find jobs during a recession, james struggling to express his sexuality, rachel struggling to finish university and find out what to do with her life; this story is truly messy. we ride through these bumps, we chide their choices, we imagine what we would do in these impossible scenarios they live through, and we come eventually to a unexpected but satisfying conclusion. despite some suspended disbelief and a few stereotypes, i think for anyone who is a fan of sally rooney, a fan of women lost in their 20s lit, or just loves professor/student drama, this book will be quite enjoyable for you.

for fans of: normal people, beautiful world where are you, my last innocent year, early morning riser, paul, recollections of my non-existence

I wanted to love this book. But it felt like a lot of build up to an “incident” that just didn’t hit for me. The writing style was great, I felt connected to characters, but the climax just fell short for me.

This gave me Normal People but more comedic vibes. I was oddly drawn into the lives of Rachel and James trying to figure out life in their early 20s. I am not sure what specifically worked for me, but I couldn't put it down. There was a lot of sadness in the book, but it was treated with humor and grace and it worked. Thank you to Netgalley & Alfred A Knopf for the advanced reader copy.

"If you love Tomorrow3 by Zevin, you'll love this too" stated an email to make me read the Rachel Incident. After having read this, I can see where one could see similarities, but while reading it, I never compared the 2 titles. At College Rachel meets James at her job in a bookstore. They become instant besties and decide to move in together. The Rachel incident follows the year where the closeted James and Rachel try to get their lives on track while making one bad decision after another. After a break-up Rachel and James are jokingly trying to get her to have an affair with her older ( and married ) Lit Professor, which ends in James having an affair with him.Having to keep this secret for her best friend is getting harder each day. As is getting money and staying afloat during the crisis.Reading this had me anxious almost the whole time. It is easy readable, feels strangely honest and real, and the ending is worth some dragging parts. I found every characters unlikable and was waiting for the repercussion, which felt unsatisfactory. I would never say "If you loved Tomorrow3, read this!" but I will say "read this!" Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me this title.

Easily one of the most touching books I have ever read!

I fell hard and fast for this story. I immediately felt such a strong connection to Rachel, who is this beautifully mundane girl just trying to navigate the world. Having just emerged from her teenage years, she meets a man named James, who instantly becomes her other half. He is gay but closeted and the two share this incredible intimate relationship that transcends basic friendship bonds. Their friendship is like a living, breathing entity.

When Rachel develops a crush on one of her professors, Dr. Fred Byrne, the ways in which this man infiltrates hers and James’s life in fully encompassing… but that’s only a part of this story. This book showcases the good, the bad, and the ugliness of life. The secrets, the challenges, the codependency and betrayal weaving through these pages is palpable. Most of all, though… it’s love.

This book had me laughing like a crazy person and also ugly crying. This made me FEEL everything so strongly. This is hilarious and so touching. I cannot wait to read what O’Donoghue has in store next!

For a big part of this book, I was kind of wondering if maybe I just didn't get it. But I'm glad I kept reading.

Rachel is a 21-year-old college student, sharing a flat with her coworker from the bookstore, James. Rachel develops this major crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne, but guess what? She might not be the only one after him. Throughout the year of them living together, Rachel and James get tangled up in Dr. Byrne's and his wife, Deenie's, lives. Secrets start piling up, and tension keeps on rising among everyone.

I felt by the time Rachel and James grew up and moved away from each other that the story really started happening and I could see where it was going.

This was a good book. A little hard to figure out at first but I liked it.

Although I was intrigued by the premise of Caroline O’Donoghue’s latest book, The Rachel Incident, I was not totally sold once I began reading. And unfortunately, my misgivings continued throughout the book. Even though it’s a well written story about friendship and love, the style of writing, the plot and the characters did little to hold my attention. Nevertheless, I’m grateful to NetGalley for the advanced eCopy, and I feel certain “Rachel” will find her audience.

Amidst a looming financial crash, Rachel and James become friends and embark on a bohemian lifestyle in their early lackadaisical years of adulthood in Cork. This witty but emotional novel captures their unexpected connection and the chaotic landscape of Ireland at the beginning of the 2010s.

I have such mixed feelings about this three-star book. For starters, I struggled with Rachel from the beginning when she was a twenty-year-old college student. And despite chasing her for the whole of the novel, I don't feel that I ever quite got ahold of her — though there were hints in the final pages that I could've finally started to see her for who she'd become. O'Donoghue writes Rachel as almost sheer potential, but she feels loosely constructed and empty for much of the book, relying too much on potential alone.

An older Rachel narrates The Rachel Incident from a place (in present tense, mind you) of hindsight and tender nostalgia for her younger, less experienced self. While older Rachel has more self awareness than young Rachel, she still lacks the method to deliver the story in a way that quieted my unease and earned my trust. It was hard to feel as though she has control over her own narrative.

Here's the thing. I like the way O'Donoghue writes. The construction of her sentences, the way she pulls her ideas along trailing behind her, leaving a path for you to follow but also a place she can easily access and retread as needed.

But I didn't like her characters for the entire first half of the novel.

I had a hard time connecting with Rachel or finding her sympathetic. What is supposed to be her late coming into adulthood, appeared to me as simply being too weak a person. She was too smudgy, as though she were a collection of character flaws where one too many weak ingredients made it into the stew. James, who begins the story as her slightly older and closeted gay best friend, is too untethered from the story for so long — we only get him through Rachel's unfocused lens. And for the first half of the book, he's the more stereotypical for it, lacking much-needed nuance.

Part of the problem is a personal one…. Someone described this book as being able to enjoy the messiness of your 20s again. But my 20s were purposefully not messy; I got married and got a dog, bought a house, and had two kids. Before I left to stay home with my first born, I worked long hours at a bank on the trading room floor. I experienced 9/11, evacuating from uptown Charlotte because the bank-centered city was rumored to be on a list of potential attack sites. On and on…and Rachel's juvenile personality isn't something I don't believe, but it is something that would define why I would never be remotely interested in socializing with this person. While I wouldn't say Rachel is an unlikable character, I do admit that, if she were a real person, I personally would not like her.

While I don't believe a reader needs to like every main character, I do think they need to be able to find a facet with which they can relate, circumstances for which can earn sympathy. But Rachel, in the first third of the book, was so phony in her empty blandness. She didn't know who she was and seemed to lack personal willpower or motivation.

It isn't until much later in her tale that Rachel finds her own authority and is able to stand on her own, and that portion almost feels like a prelude to an epilogue rather than directly involved with the crux of the novel. But once O'Donoghue began (finally) closing in on the actual event that would (much) later come to be known by some as "The Rachel Incident," the novel found its legs.

It's at the halfway point that I began to feel O'Donoghue open up the door just a smidge and show me more real and more concrete possible versions of Rachel and James. While they hadn't yet experienced character growth, and Rachel in particular was exceptionally juvenile, at last there were hints of it coming. Or at the very least, events and circumstances that would more than likely generate character growth.

This was the portion of the book where it felt as though O'Donoghue had the idea of the book itself. And, not for nothing, this novel gave off strong debut novel feels. I thought more slack needed to be granted because this was a first foray. It is not.

Regardless, the too-long opening of the first half came across more as filler, and an extended introduction, rather than the reason for the novel's existence. Rachel finally started coming into focus, and while she still lacked a lot of qualities that I'd expect in someone of her age, background, and education level, the fact that she might eventually get on a path to personhood and realness as a fully-fleshed out character at least had me relaxed a bit and willing to finish the book.

O'Donoghue certainly has a way with words — her wit and frank approach to life comes across in the examination of the younger Rachel by the older one. She leans into the poetic nature of storytelling without flitting into the purple prose area. The Rachel Incident is a relaxed, casual novel that captures the uncertainty of early adulthood and the transformative episodes that shape us.

Absolutely loved this book! Once I got into it, it was hard to put this down. I found myself identifying so much with Rachel, and I think O'Donoghue really nailed the experience of a young woman graduating college at this time period - all before social media, when conversations about relationships, gender, orientation, all of it was not being had in the same way as now! I really enjoyed O'Donoghue's writing and will definitely pick up the other books she's written.

For fans of Sally Rooney for sure, set in a small Irish town in the 2010s. Rachel has a crush on her university professor, she has a roommate named James who is her best friend (and really their dynamic proves to me the existence of platonic soulmates, a shining light in the book. James is so vibrant and their love for each other is absolutely ride-or-die, codependent best friends who maybe need space but - as I said, platonic soulmates I loved them), she works at a bookshop, all pretty standard --- until she finds her professor and her best friend making out in the bookshop at an event...

Things get, messy. It is one of those books where you can see every place things are going to eventually go wrong, get frustrated with the actions of the characters and miscommunications, but still invested in the drama and end up caring for these very deeply flawed characters.

And I mean deeply flawed. But they're believable, real, a charm to them that jumps from the page. Their relationships are nuanced. The pages are stuffed with nostalgia with a voice easy to fall into, the text really highlights the insecurity and panic of early 20s, crafting a work deeply relatable.

By the end, the story is rewarding for where everyone ends up and the layers to their circumstance after a very frustrating and messy climax.

<b>Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. </b>

In The Rachel Incident Rachel and James bond quickly and give life to a unique friendship from an unlikely pair. They seem to see each other more clearly than they see themselves.

The Rachel Incident is a sweet, funny and intelligent story of friendship.

This novel has received a lot of buzz, and so I was eager to read it. Having just finished the book, I'm having a hard time writing a coherent review.

Despite the engaging style and a strong narrative voice, I struggled with the first third of this novel. The main characters (Rachel and her best friend James) are both a mess. They are young, naive, directionless, and impulsive -- characters that I found it difficult to identify with as I near retirement age (somewhat like reading CATCHER IN THE RYE after the age of 55?!).

But the second half of the novel is exquisitely plotted, and the issues are universal: shame and betrayal, loneliness, courage, and the right to health care. What is most memorable is the care with which O'Donoghue narrates Rachel's journey to maturity and self-knowledge: there's nothing didactic here, just an honest look at what it means to accept oneself and extend generous understanding to others.

A three-star first half, a five-star second half -- averaging 4.5 (on the strength of O'Donoghue's writing style).