This book isn’t for me sadly. I found it to be so slow and decided to DNF after not feeling the pull to pick it back up. It’s gotten lots of love and I hope it continues to get that. It’s definitely a book I think I should’ve passed on because these aren’t usually my type of stories.

Rachel is finding her way through college and early adulthood when she meets James Devlin, a wildly charismatic breath of fresh air working alongside her in the bookstore. They become more or less instant best friends, moving into a flat together and discovering each other's quirks to their mutual delight. Things get complicated when Rachel and James start new relationships, as they make some truly questionable decisions along the way. There will be heartbreak and suffering throughout this story, but the overarching tone is full of joy and love.

The way everything in this book gets so convoluted and intertwined and REAL made me check a few times to ensure that it was actually fiction. It reads so unbelievably realistic as a coming-of-age story that I could swear it was a memoir! Rachel and James are equally infuriating, though you simply cannot help but root for them. If you've survived your early twenties, you will be able to relate to this story. It is masterfully crafted and full of exquisite characters! I highly recommend it to anyone partial to character-driven novels, especially about self-realization and the struggles of finding your way.

Thank you to Caroline O'Donoghue, Knopf, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

Very good book. At first I was t sure how I felt but the more I read I was hooked! Every time I would go to bed I would say nope just one more chapter! Great read.

I didn’t find this book to be funny at all. The Rachel Incident is just a look back at a young person’s time in college and the bad choices that they made. They didn’t learn anything from it. These events happened and they are telling it to us because someone from that past has had an event recently happen to them. So we get to hear about their connection to them. It’s not a tale that puts anyone in a favorable light. It also doesn’t put Rachel herself in a good light at the end because she still proves that she has no respect for anyone’s privacy.

This book just feels like a tale of self-indulgence. I was bored. It isn’t as if Rachel, James, or anyone else does anything spectacular during this time or anytime thereafter. It’s all rather ordinary and yawn inducing.

A coming of age story centered around the beauty and complexities of platonic friendship in your early 20s. Rachel and James find themselves in a slew of romantic and professional entanglements that are both messy and relatable. The writing is tender and effortlessly funny, I loved these characters and will think of them often.

A slow, well written book about an Irish woman navigating life after college.

I didn't know much about this book going into it and I think that made my reading experience more enjoyable. I wouldn't say there are any huge, exciting moments in the book but it kept me engaged the whole time. Rachel is a relatable character with struggles that many women will face in their early 20's.

I can see this being compared to Sally Rooney, but I found the writing to be more thorough and atmospheric.

The Rachel Incident was unique from so many other books I've read - set during the abortion referendum in Ireland, this is not something I had read about before. I enjoyed this debut from O'Donoghue and look forward to more from her in the future.

Thank you to Knopf for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This book gave me ALL the Sally Rooney vibes. I really liked it, but it still wasn't my favorite. A lot of the chapters were just the same back and forth chatter between Rachel and James. I think some of the synopsis is a little misleading when it comes to Rachel's obsession with Dr. Byrne. I barely saw the obsession there and it was for a brief moment she had a small crush. I did love Rachel and James' friendship and also loved Rachel and Carey's relationship. The ending of the book is what I was hoping for.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

A nice and interesting irish crime story, nice but some parts generic, there could've been nice character writing that this

"The Rachel Incident" is that rare book which, for me, takes it place immediately in "BEST OF THE YEAR" reads and which I can confidently say will be on many other people's 'BEST OF' lists in the near future. It's a stunner of a novel--so far exceeding any expectations I started with., The plot, characters, themes, and overall arc kept me fully engaged, laughing, commiserating, and pining for my very own "pack of Jameses."

I was reading about friendship(s) I dreamed about in my early 20s (particularly a banter-filled, be-yourself relationship like James and Rachel's). I can see this novel effectively adapted for a series or a film (in a similar style to Sally Rooney's books over the past few years). And I, for one, cannot wait for that!!

In Acknowledgements, Caroline O'Donoghue states that "This book was written during the coldest and saddest part of the 2021 lockdown, and while [she] was on deadline for another book entirely. They tell you that you should never abandon a half-finished project in favor of a new one. Well. Sometimes you should. This is one such example."

I, for one, am so glad she did!! I think many people will agree. This is a book I needed to read, with important themes and relatable characters and SO MUCH HEART!

The novel--which includes a very carefully designed and interwoven series of plotlines--was so well-written, it took me longer than usual to finish and left me with that feeling of -- "Ugh! I'm going to miss these people." I have a regular practice of dogearing, highlighting, and then quote-tweeting (or posting) favorite lines (without spoilers, of course) and I finished this book with pages of quotes (metaphors, phrases, images, hilarious scenarios...just too many to tweet or post). The novel encompassed themes of Irish heritage, the unapologetic need for reproductive rights for women, sexual identity, the challenges of friendship and growing up, self-acceptance, and the negative rippling aftereffects of secrets and lies.

This book is SO good that it will, after its release later this month, become an instant favorite for a diverse audience. I am truly grateful to #NetGalley for the advance copy and opportunity to read and review "The Rachel Incident." Happy reading to everyone who picks this one up!! It's a gem. Truly.

Thank you to Knopf & Netgalley for sharing this title~ The Rachel Incident from Caroline O’Donaghue is a love story about two best friends in all its messy, beautiful glory. Set in the shadow of the ‘08 global economic crisis, Rachel and James meet working at a bookstore in Cork, move in together and grow up together in more ways than one. I absolutely loved this book— it was hilarious, warm, fun, real. Absolutely perfect summer read & if you are in your 30s like myself, this is going to feel very nostalgic.

I had originally thought the premise of this book was intriguing, but after trying to read it, I had a hard time following along. DNF. Unfortunately, the writing style was not for me. Thanks NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC.

This slice of life/coming of age tale is the story of a university student, Rachel, and the men in her life (roommate, professor, boyfriend) and their relationships. It also tells, quite personally and quite movingly, of how Ireland's challenges and growth of the past two decades has affected women and gay people. It's funny and sweet and beautifully told, the kind of book where, even though there's a satisfying resolution, you find yourself thinking about the characters long after you put the book down. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

Character driven novels are not ordinarily my cup of tea, but this one was done so well! I was hooked from the beginning and blew through the first 30% of the novel. I found Rachel to be a wonderfully messy character and I truly enjoyed following along as she navigated friendship, love and career troubles. I definitely recommend this for fans of coming-of-age stories!

Its difficult to review this book without spoilers. I'm going to try.
This is a story about 2 friends, Rachel and James, who work at the same bookstore in Ireland.
They move in together, that's not giving away too much.
Money always seems to be a problem. They are both young adults struggling along.
There are a few romantic love stories woven through the book. I don't want to tell you between whom.
One romance is between 2 heterosexual people; the other romance is between 2 gay men.
The 1st love story seemed frustrating to me as 1 of the partners was unavailable a great deal of the time.
The 2nd love story is problematic as one of the partners is married to someone else.
The spouse hires Rachel to do some work for her.
It gets pretty complicated!

The book was engaging, and even though I couldn't really relate to any of the characters, the characters were well-drawn. I really got to know them.

I gave this book 4 stars and would recommend it. It would make a good book group choice.

This is my first book by this author and I loved it! Such a great coming to age book and very relatable. I love when authors use characters that are not perfect and we can grow with them.

Thank you for this ARC!

Oh how I loved this book! Absolutely exquisite writing brimming with wit. I appreciated the nuance of the characters and their friendship. I also really enjoyed learning about Ireland in the recession of the 2010s. I also really appreciated the structure and narration of the book, as we got some retrospective from the character as she was older but also felt like we were living her 20s right with her. I'm so excited to recommend this book to others and I'm happy to have found another author who nails coming of age stories with tenderness and humor like Dolly Alderton.

Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. The description of the book sounded very interesting, but while reading I could not get into it. I know a lot of other people loved it, but I don’t think this one was for me.

This coming of age story takes place in Cork, Ireland with a splendid beauty in a life long friendship, a bookshop and relationships. So much of the story is in reading it to feel the mechanisms fall into place with no explanation.

"Where would I start and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?"

I felt as if I were there and experienced the friendship of two roommates growing, yet chaotic, but smoothly transformed.
Rachel, as a 21 year old and as a mature adult living life with a housemate James Devin. James with no intention of a relationship with Rachel who is smitten by him. Rachel is also over the top crazy about her married Professor Dr. Byrne and has planned a book signing for him so she can start a crazy affair with him. When she meets his wife, Deenie, before the book signing, she could not help but feel his wife was testing her to see what she was up to. Things change quickly when she finds her roommate with Dr. Byrne. You can imagine all the different scenarios after this scene, but the story line is so much more and it shares a love and challenge of the publishing and journalism career side. Relationships come and go and life secrets haunt all so I quickly devoured this one to find out what the hype was and it was an amazing storytelling book.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book had everything I would want in a book...yet somehow it still fell flat for me. The characters were incredibly flawed, realistic and borderline unlikeable and I somehow still really felt for and with them. The dynamic between everyone, and I do mean every single character, was really intentional and well thought out. Every person had a reason to be in the book and you could clearly
(even if it wasn't right away) see that.

The plot was interesting and I actually really liked how the book tied together. The ending was very satisfying and I closed the book feeling at peace with what went down. The pacing was very off though. At the beginning of the chapters, and even sometimes in the middle of the chapter, we'd jump to present tense and slowly slide back into the past. Every single time it happened I was thrown out of the storyline. There were a couple times when I'd instinctively close the book ready to put it down, only to force myself to pick it up and keep going. I had no idea where the book was going for the first half of the book. I do think the ending picked up and was a lot stronger than the beginning. Overall this book just fell a little flat for me.