I have saved this book for months, because I knew how impossibly good it would be. I was right and I already miss it.
Rachel and James meet and it’s platonic love at first sight. They become roommates, best friends and one another’s secret keeper. When James discovers that Rachel has a crush on her professor, they scheme to get the pair together. It is only when all three are in the same room that it’s clear Rachel isn’t who he’s interested in.
A brilliant, reflective coming-of-age that breathes new life into the genre. That made me laugh as much as pause, tear up.
I loved it.

Review: The writing flows well and the story is interesting, but there was an oddness throughout the book. The main character is unreliable in the way where what she says isn’t the truth nor is it a lie. I just wasn’t into that at all. I kept me from feeling connected to the story. Also, in random spots the narrator spoke to the reader and I that through me off.
Recommended For: Those who like a book with lots of drama.

When I was asking if I would like to read The Rachel Incident I was a little nervous. But the minute I read the synopsis I knew it was a book for me. they got me with bookstore and Ireland LOL. I highly recommend this book to everyone and I couldn't put it down the minute I started it. I will be preordering this book cause I need it on my shelf.

Rachel is a large woman in her early 20s, finishing her undergraduate degree in Cork, and lives with her new best friend James, a recently out gay 20-something with aspirations of becoming a writer. Rachel and James have an amazing bond, including sharing a crush on one of Rachel’s professors, Dr Byrne. The Rachel Incident is their story. This young and cash strapped pair see themselves as outsiders and often get caught up in toxic relationships, bad jobs, and a terrible economy. Their individual relationships with Dr Byrne changes them and sets them on a path to their future selves. This was an enjoyable reading experience, I think that the second half was stronger than the first half of the book - and the ending was not how I would have predicted it. Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC.

The Rachel Incident is a book that encapsulates the angst of a person's 20's. It follows Rachel and her exploration of friendship, crappy jobs, dating, sexuality, family relationships, and higher education in the backdrop of Ireland in the late early 2000's. The twenties are hard and this book shows the amount of indecision and turmoil of the time. Although her choices and her lifestyle are not reflective of my own value system, it was easy to get lost in her journey towards full-fledge adulthood.

I loved this book. I loved the new adulthood uncertainty and exploration of boundaries, the moral greyness that you can be sucked into but that doesn't feel quite as black and white as when you get older.

Definitely not a novel with easily lovable characters, but I felt so endeared by the love James and Rachel share. I loved how they met, I loved how we met the other characters, and did I mention already that I love this book?

Pick this up if you love coming-of-age stories, love messy love, or you love Salley Rooney.

TW: infidelity, infertility

Full of hilarious moments, cringe-inducing decisions, and surprises - The Rachel Incident will keep you entertained from the moment you meet the chaotic, entitled undergraduate student Rachel.

This is a smart, tender story of a young woman trying to grow up while the world seems to be crashing down.
We follow Rachel as she meets James, her new colleague and soon to be best friend. They decide to move in together and share stories and secrets as they experience love, heartbreak, loss, and ambition.

Despite her talent for making increasingly poor decisions and selfish behavior, I found Rachel to be endearing and enjoyed following the story as it unfolded and moved in unexpected directions. Recommended to anyone looking for a clever, character-driven novel.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I love books about the messy uncertainties of our early 20s and The Rachel Incident captures all of that quite well..
Rachel and her friend James are both deeply flawed but also likable, and the book carefully balances its themes of friendship, infidelity, bodily autonomy, class differences, etc, with ease. The incident in question comes a bit late in the book and that's my only real complaint - the story meanders a bit before a big reveal that could have been mined for more drama. Otherwise an immensely enjoyable and relatable book about an adult reflecting on the struggle to find her place in a world felt big and scary and exciting and full of possibilities.

This was a banger! Somehow my review that I just wrote disappeared so here goes round 2 :)

This is the story of Rachel and James and their one year living together in Cork in 2010. They work at a bookstore together and decide that they would live well together. Rachel is in school and decides that she has a faraway crush on one of her professors, Dr. Byrne. Her and James plot and scheme to host a book launch for his new academic book that is coming out. The night has come for the launch and Rachel is questioning if she really wants to make a move on him? She has not gotten any vibes that he is interested which all makes sense when she walks in on him and James in the conference room in the book. This is the story of a series of decisions that come after this one decision and how much those decisions affect people’s lives.

In the meantime, James and Rachel are trying to grow up and figure out what they want to do with their lives. Who do they want to be? Rachel ends up getting a job with Dr. Byrnes; wife who is in publishing and realizes that she does want to be an author. However, a few fatal decisions and misunderstandings result in her being black balled right before her graduation from college.

Throughout ALL of this, Rachel is seeing another James who she calles Carey. They are committed to each other after taking a break, but James has a family emergency he has to attend to. He ends up going back to Derry to stay for a while leaving Rachel very anxious and vulnerable. I really liked how the author made this so real. How many times have you been in a relationship where you wanted to say something and it came out the wrong way? Or you were too scared of what they would say back? Rachel ends up making a very large life decision without involving James which ultimately ends their relationship UNTIL they run into each other 8 years later!!

I liked how this book came full circle. It took a while but there were some HEAs that I enjoyed. I loved the depiction of love through a best friend, a lover, and family. They were all very well depicted.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was incredibly thought-provoking!

At first, it was slightly hard to get into. The pacing felt slow and I was not entirely sure what the purpose of the story was, so I found it hard to pick up. However, once I really gave it a chance, I could not put the book down!

Rachel and James are the pinnacle of friendship. The circumstances of their meeting and their contrasting adversities make their friendship all the more compelling. Two people who unexpectedly connect in early 2000s Ireland form the strongest bond imaginable.

Placing topics of abortion and queer rights as the primary themes explored within the novel was perfect for these characters. While James was often too cliche of an archetype, it was balanced with surprises in his character. Rachel, on the other hand, explored the exact ideas and thoughts that come with the transition to a new stage in light. Her character highlighted the struggles of coming into adulthood perfectly.

Overall, this book, while hard to get into, was well worth the wait.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Knopf Publishing House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Rachel Incident is a brilliant coming of age story that captures all of the highs and lows of codependent friendships, dumb choices, ill-conceived romances, massive insecurity masked by over-confidence, epic hangovers, and the never-ending drama of being in your early twenties.

I loved this book.

This review is based on an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing an advanced copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

"It fell past me like scenery outside a car window."

And that very well describes my experience with this book. I think if I'd read it in another season, it might have had a better review. But alas, I've been reading A LOT of great books lately, and The Rachel Incident just didn't meet the mark. The writing style reminds me of Sally Rooney, but the characters are significantly less appealing. Slow paced, contemplative; very much just a book about a person/people doing a lot of nothing. There's no real plot to speak of, though there is as the title suggests, an "incident". I found the pages leading up to this incident to be a bit tedious to work through as nothing Rachel felt or did was very thought provoking or deep. She was petulant, immature, and selfish. I found James to be much the same. I didn't like the way they treated their relationships, as messy as though they were. By the end of the book, I felt myself simultaneously thinking, "Really? That's it?" and "Thank goodness that's done, then."

I did find the practical and insightful way in which O'Donoghue worked through the challenges associated with abortion, specifically in the context of a country that at the time was pro life, to be well done. Though it was brief, I thought it represented a realistic perspective of the nuances involved.

besties if you like Sally Rooney or Curtis Sittenfeld this is FOR U. It so effectively captured the mess of your very early 20's, this character did some dumb shit that was incredibly relatable.

I think Rachel is 21 in....2010, which means she was like 6 years older than me, but I still felt like it was a similar vibe to my end of uni experience. The interesting lens was that of an Irish girl, I knew about abortion rights in Ireland but hadn't read something that incorporated them so clearly!

Related to my first sentence...if you hate Sally Rooney or Curtis Sittenfeld, def don't read this lol

"The Rachel Incident" by Caroline O'Donoghue is a captivating coming-of-age novel set during the Great Recession. The story follows Rachel Murray as she navigates the challenges of graduating college and forms a bond with her co-worker James Delvin, leading them to share an apartment on Shandon Street. Their lives become entangled with Rachel's professor, Dr. Byrne, and his wife, Deenie, resulting in a series of complex events. The novel delves into heavy topics such as the political climate in Ireland during the 2010s (including gay marriage and abortion) providing a backdrop for the characters' experiences. The standout element is Rachel's point of view as an older, more mature version of herself, reflecting on her past and how it shaped her present self. The writing style is engaging and humorous, blending wit and poignancy effectively. The relationships portrayed in the book, especially Rachel's friendship with James, are vivid and dynamic, making the characters relatable and endearing. "The Rachel Incident" is a beautifully written and impactful novel that explores the messiness and complexities of young adulthood while addressing important social issues.

Full Review to be posted on duffrunstough on May 31st, 2023.

The book is written in two timelines. One is Rachel’s younger life (Uni days). The other one is when Rachel is a “grown up,” who is pregnant with a successful career. The switch between timelines was not clearly defined and thus confusing. I did not find the characters likable. Between those two things I found it a difficult and uninteresting read. The book description and other reviewers hint at the surprising reveals in the book. I found them to be predictable. The themes are “coming out,” bisexuality, the morning after pill and abortion laws. I found this book to be slow and plodding and honestly can’t recommend it. I am sorry for the harsh review and please take into consideration that my review is definitely in the minority. This may just have been a bad week for me to read a book objectively. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Knopf for the digital ARC. This review is my own opinion.

This is the first NetGalley ARC I've read and I enjoyed the process so much! I owe it all to my recently acquired Kindle. I'm excited to read more ARCs now that I have an easier way to access them.

SUMMARY: The Rachel Incident follows main character and narrator Rachel Murray and her best friend/roommate James Devlin throughout young adulthood in early 2000s Ireland. In the midst of economic struggle, James stumbles into an intense affair with Rachel's favorite professor, Dr. Fred Byrne. Meanwhile, Rachel is trying to manage her own somewhat tumultuous relationship with her 2nd favorite James (her boyfriend, James Carey) and her new literature industry internship with Dr. Byrne's wife, editor Deenie Harrington. The writing is formatted as a retrospective written by adult Rachel and occasionally includes interludes from the present day.

WHAT I LIKED: The cast of characters was complex and the relationships between them were nuanced and realistic. The love affair plot was dramatic without being too cliche. The humor was genuine and not overdone; I loved the one liners and self deprecating commentary from present-day Rachel. The abortion thread was poignant and well done, not too heavy handed or overly trauma-porny. The twist of present day Rachel's husband being James Carey was a genuine and pleasant surprise that I didn't see coming.

WHAT COULD'VE BEEN BETTER: The varying timelines were a little confusing at times and I think it would've been better if not structured as a retelling from Rachel's later adult self; sometimes it took me a few paragraphs to place myself on the timeline. I think it could've been told from the present POV with an epilogue or perhaps split into a Part One / Part Two for the different time periods. I appreciated the inclusion of queer characters but I wish the cast of characters had been more diverse. There were no themes or messages that I feel will stick with me long after reading this book, which is the main reason I gave it 3 stars.

I love these books that challenge perceptions of our recollections of events in our life. Breaking into adulthood and navigating who we are, what is expected and acceptable in friendships, family, work and our priorities. 

How many of us were a part of or central to ‘an incident’ back in our (potentially naïve) youth, which was never honestly depicted for whatever reason we had to deal with at that time, be it confidence, misguided loyalties or manipulation?
 
The Rachel incident is such a heart-warmingly funny novel about love and how messy life is, but we learn from our mistakes (hopefully) and can move on from past shame with forgiveness and appreciation of how we navigate and learn from the life we lead.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars from me! I think I really really liked this one. The first half of the book was really engrossing and a page-turner. Each chapter left me gasping, either with a little surprise in the plot or with beautiful prose and astute wisdom. I also loved the setting (early aughts in the small city of Cork, Ireland).

This is a new take on dark academia / student-professor relationships, but more so coming-of-age friendships and navigating co-dependency throughout your early twenties. As a reader, it feels VERY hard to find something you’ve never read before tackling these subjects!

Although the ending doesn’t tie everything up into a beautiful bow, I felt happy and satisfied with it, like a good lit fic book should be in my opinion.

If you like the tropes I’ve mentioned, I think you’ll like this one, and certainly I’ve found a new author I look forward to reading more from!

Oh yes - Rachel is a hot mess as most of us are in our clueless 20’s! Her life plans of university are upended when her family is hit hard by the Great Recession. She muddles her way through, working at a bookstore with James who becomes her BFF.
Rachel and James have a great deal of fun financially struggling but with greater concerns about where they are going in life! Their blundering is rather charming and, of course, they are their own worst enemies. Lots of drama, lots of angst, lots of “oops”! It is an enjoyable journey to finally reach the other side!

This book is brilliant. I don't really know how else to describe it.

I have not read Caroline O'Donoghue's other books but by God will I read them now. Her writing is sharp, to the point, the type where you reread a phrase several times to focus on how perfect it is. It's witty and funny and refreshing.

The construction of the story was marvellous as well. Multi-layered but not in such a way as to make you feel stupid or indignant.

I loved the insight into the book world, what there was of it. As someone about to get an English degree, I do feel as though I've seen the Ghost Of Christmas Future career-wise but I am not going to focus on that. Or maybe it added to my enjoyment of this book. I can't really tell right now.

The book touches several complex issues with stunningly breezy ease while being multi-faceted in its exploration of them. I was blown away (that's the wind reference continued. I'm unimpressed too; it's late),

Rachel. Oh, Rachel. I love her. I think about her often. The book is written is such a way as to juxtapose the many different selves that are inside us and it absolutely makes her fascinating. I would go so far as to say that I'm obsessed. I'd like to reread this book with a highlighter. To put it under a microscope. To examine it in such depth that I never speak of it again.

The side characters. I struggle to have any favourites. They were people, they were real people and the development we see and what we learn, being filtered through Rachel -- again. I'd like to look at it so closely it falls apart.

Overall, READ IT, PLEASE.