Rachel and James are students working in a bookshop in Cork, Ireland. When Rachel reveals a crush on her married professor, James schedules a reading for his new book so she seduce him. But things don’t go according to plan in unexpected ways. Hmm. This was a bit overhyped and I may be harder on it because I expected so much more than it delivered 🙃 The 3 central characters are basically in a competition to be the absolute worst people they can be. While it seems many people enjoyed this I think, for me, the specific actions of these characters left little to no room for relatability, sympathy, or redemption. Fine, but not special.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue.

A lovely story full of friendship, love, and the trials of young adulthood.

I loved this book. It was a quick, enjoyable read with complicated, likable characters and a wonderful ending!

I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Caroline O’Donoghue, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

A masterful book in the vein of Sally Rooney. Tasteful. Emotional. Ending a bit conventional but great queer rep

This book is told from the perspective of main character Rachel, now in her early 30s, recounting her last year of university in Cork, Ireland and her first year or so after. It was a tumultuous time for her, with an intense fast friendship with the closeted James, and romantic drama for both of them, along with both trying to figure out life.

I never was an aimless 20something, so sometimes this type of book does not click with me, and plus I was made nervous by comparisons to Sally Rooney since I didn’t like Normal People, so I was a little wary going into this book. Well, to my surprise, I absolutely loved it! Rachel and James are both kind of messes, but they are also so loveable and their friendship is just portrayed in such a wonderful way. Plus, the framing of her telling the story from the perspective of a decade later both acknowledges her immaturity and bad decisions, as well as lends the whole thing a lovely feeling of nostalgia, especially towards the end. So glad I finally picked this up!

4.25 stars

We first encounter Rachel years later, when she is married, pregnant and a journalist (finally using that college degree). She's come across an article mentioning that Fred has fallen into a coma and it takes Rachel straight back to the past, to the time when she first met James while working in a bookstore together. At six-foot tall, bookish, and adrift, Rachel was easy prey for James, who all but bullied his way into her life. Soon the two were living together, becoming the best of friends. "Running riot" is a good description of the lives they were living; "bohemian existence" is putting it nicely.

Everything is going swimmingly, despite them struggling to make ends meet. When James comes to the reality that he's gay, they both embrace it. But when James and Fred hook up, it changes things. Yes, Fred brings them bottles of wine, flowers, and fancy foods. But it's hard for Rachel to see Fred, her literature professor, as her best friend's lover. Until, in desperation, she realizes she can use the situation to her own advantage. Soon Fred has found her a position as his wife's intern, a position which pays poorly but gives Rachel an emotional life and a new friend.

Meanwhile Rachel has found herself a boyfriend, a young man who is more than a little listless and unreliable. When he has to go home to care for his mother, Rachel discovers that she's pregnant. Through a misunderstanding and other circumstances, Rachel finds her relationship with Fred's wife at an end, her relationship with James tested, and herself a pariah in the community.

O'Donoghue manages to create a book that starts out very much playing for laughs but the humor gets darker as life gets harder and harder for Rachel. Ireland in an economic collapse means Rachel's only hope for a job is in a call center, her parents' dental practice is going under, and her boyfriend can't be relied on to help. O'Donoghue tackles a lot in this one - sexuality, sexual identity, infidelity, economic crisis, unwanted pregnancy and the difficulty in finding medical help, parent/child relationships, friendships, morality. Rachel isn't always a sympathetic character, but I couldn't help but care for her, especially as the adults around her kept letting her down. I was glad that O'Donoghue circled back to the beginning of the book and gave readers (and Rachel) some closure and hope.

The writing reminded me of sally rooney. The plot was interesting and overall I enjoyed the book.I wish I could do justice to this book but I read it while I was the verge of a book slump, one day I will come back to read it again.

This was a very cute and fun story about friendship and love in Ireland. I would definitely recommend this novel.

5/5 stars. One of my top three books of 2023. In someone else’s hands, this book might have been chaotic and long-winded, but it was perfectly unstable and warm. Even the characters I wanted to hate were infused with humanity. Great job! And thank you to #netgalley for this delightful ARC.

I really wanted to like this one, but I ended up DNFing it about halfway through. I just didn't care about the characters or what happened. Maybe it was poor timing when I tried to read it. I may end up picking it up again at a later date, but I may not.

I'll be honest, I originally downloaded The Rachel Incident from NetGalley over a YEAR ago and only finally just got around to reading it when I picked it up during Target's holiday book sale.... And I'm mad at myself for waiting this long.
The Rachel Incident is somehow about very little and everything at the same time. I didn't realize it until the end, but the book takes place just over the course of a year.
Rachel is in her final year of college and meets James at a her job at a bookshop. They become best friends and move in together and somehow their lives become tangled with one of Rachel's professors.
This book definitely does not take the turn you think it will— it's not a dark story about an inappropriate student-teacher affair. What it is, is a story about a 21 year old who is a little selfish and a lot insecure.
I saw so much of myself in Rachel, but especially in her relationships with people. I related to her simultaneous tendencies to be very open and yet closed off from people she loves. The writing was beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes LOL hilarious.
I don't know if this book is for everyone, necessarily, but I would definitely recommend it if you like Sally Rooney or like reading about humans being humans (especially when they live in Europe).

I think this may be one of my favourite reads to date. The effortless storytelling from the main character was impeccable. Looking back on your teenage and early twenties as a series of mistakes instead of the best years of your life was something it took a little time to wrap my head around but certain parts struck home - the dingy house share felt like a right of passage in a way. I loved this and will look forward to anything else Caroline O'Donoghue publishes next!

Absolutely loved this book! Such a well-written, captivating story about friendship, adulthood, and love. One of my favorite books of 2023 — can’t wait to read more from this author.

Coming out story through the eyes of a cis straight woman. I think I came into this with the wrong expectations.

Really excellent writing. I loved the male/female friendship. I was completely shocked by the "incident" - not at all what I thought it was going to be! (Maybe needs more trigger warnings?) This book reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney - in a good way. :)

Such a fun take on unrequited love! I’m always a sucker for an unrequited love story and this story surprised me and hit all the points in a book i want. I empathized with the heroine and loved her character so much! Must read!!

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

I think you will love this book if you are in the mood for a drama with a female narrator and a coming-of-age vibe. This book did a great job of leaning into the feeling of being a young woman trying to grow into a new version of who they are and will be: navigating relationships and uncertainty and identity. There were points that were funny and parts that felt nostalgic, and most of all, moments that felt very self-aware.

I read this very quickly and did enjoy it. I rated this book three and a half stars.

This review was posted on my instagram page (@reading_with_deb) on 6/8/2023.

The Rachel Incident develops the complexity of coming of age, infidelity, friendship, love, and a spiraling economy without being trite or superficial. All of the characters are deeply flawed, but not so much that we despise them. Instead, we are left thinking critically about how they respond to what's put in front of them. My favorite aspect overall was getting to experience how Carey and Rachel misunderstood each other so fundamentally--both assumed the other's distance was because of lack of interest. It feels like a modern Irish retelling of the show friends. Thank you netgalley for an eARC!

Caroline O’Donoghue has perfected the formula for a meandering novel about the messiness of one’s early twenties. From the very start of The Rachel Incident, I felt a sort of melancholy nostalgia for those years of my life - when everything felt exciting and terrifying all wrapped up in one.

By telling those story through adult Rachel’s lens, we’re able to see how these years unfolded while also getting a note of reflection. I mostly enjoyed this, although at times the time jump from past to present felt a little jarring.

The friendship between Rachel and James was really captivating. While toxic in some ways, their love for each other really makes this novel stand out. Again, O’Donoghue is masterful in the way she shows the bittersweet moments of friendship as one grows up. I truly felt for the two of them as they navigated the depressing reality of the recession, while also living through some extremely messy and complex relationships.

This is a beautiful story about messy people trying to make their way. There are a few things that didn’t work perfectly for me, but overall I loved this book and will absolutely seek out this author’s work in the future.

Oh, how I adored The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. This was one of my favorite books of 2023. I loved the friendship between Rachel and James, the setting of Cork, the literary themes, and even the cliche older professor love triangle. This one is made for book clubs.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.