I loved this book and it was one of those stories I couldn’t wait to pick up again whenever I had space in my life. Told in the intimate first-person voice of Rachel, a twenty-year-old Irish university student, it has that feel of Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ crossed with the always funny Bridget Jones. It is a coming-of-age story that every one from 18 to 80+ might well enjoy. It reads more like a memoir than a plot-hungry novel, but there is a story, and that story is a wonderful dive into the ways young people think about friendship and love, sexuality, class, loyalty, and forgiveness, of their friends, their parents and themselves. Although the university world of Rachel may be many decades after my own, and on the surface some of the issues may be different, the underlying story in its insights, adventures and feelings is entirely relatable. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advance digital review copy.

This book is a quiet killer — a deeply human character portrait of five Irish people finding their way through adulthood. Each character makes you ache for them in their own way. You love them all and also want to yell at each one individually to tell them to grow up, and then you want to kiss them each on the head and say “actually, never change. Sorry. Never mind!”

This book touches on some very important political issues (economic recession, gay rights, abortion access), but at the heart of the novel is a deep well of understanding for that phase of new adulthood where you’re just cracking the eggshell of your life and it all just feels horribly unfair.

This book is exquisitely paced, exceedingly charming, and liable to make you a little depressed before snapping you back out of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC!

3.5 Stars

Come for the scandal, stay for the unique characters.

Set in Cork, Ireland, this coming of age story follows Rachel as she navigates complicated relationships, both romantic and platonic. What really stood out for me was the unique characters that O'Donoghue created. These characters are not your usual leading ladies and knights in shining armour, they are messy, flawed, and completely realistic.

It took the first one hundred pages to settle into the book. It felt like a Sally Rooney book where you are just waiting to get a sense of what direction it is going to go. Once I accepted it for what it was, I enjoyed it more. The quality writing made it easy to read, and I always enjoy the Irish setting.

If you like Sally Rooney, this would be a good one for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Caroline O'Donoghue and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this ARC.

Read an ARC.

Well, if I take what part of this book says quite literally then I need to start this review with dropping some names. Maybe then my review requests on NetGalley will stop getting rejected and I'll finally be someone where other people seek out their reviews. Anyway.

I received an email from Emily Reardon, Publicity Manager with Alfred A. Knopf, name dropping Gabrielle Zevin and the review I wrote for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (which yes, I did give 5 stars). Apparently, Gabrielle also read The Rachel Incident and the two books have the same publisher, so apparently I was part of the target audience.

The book bounces back and forth through time as Rachel learns news about an old flame that she wants to share with an old friend. We learn more about everyone's history, connections, love/drama/intrigue/yaddayaddayadda, then things happen and people get hurt before they heal.

Don't get me wrong. This had some brilliant moments and I spent time while reading this in the Uncanny Valley of also having graduated from college/university amid the 2010 recession.

In my "Dark Era", I had a Craigslist roommate for four months who I might have also been obsessed with how elegant the one bedroom apartment was and then her husband came to live with us too, and we were all Such Good Friends that I let them borrow my car from time to time and it wasn't weird at all until I went to return something they'd left in the trunk, walked in to him walking around naked, and somehow after our mutual shock wore off he still convinced me to try on on "a dress he bought for her" (which might not have had tags on it when I think about that afternoon over a decade later) and said things I'd never actually heard a living person say, somehow convincing me I shouldn't tell his wife. Nothing happened, the second he touched my shoulder it broke the moment, I panicked, and moved out two weeks later.

Anyway, all that said, part of what I loved about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was how well the strong female was written.

What disappointed me so much about The Rachel Incident is how much of her identity and decisions (though authentic and relatable) were tied to the men in her life. I have read plenty of those books and am disappointed to have read another. I am also tragically American so while I can relate to the pressures of living in a small town (hellooooo Iowa) I cannot relate to any of the actual Irish moments in the book.

Three stars because I did enjoy it, devoured it in a week, but couldn't start caring about Rachel while she was basing her life around James.

What a fun romp through growing up in the early 2000s. Set in Ireland, but totally relatable, the characters are flawed and not terribly likeable... like everyone else you actually know! Taking risks vs the status quo - resonate as the characters make one terrible life choice after another. But you root for them and understand their struggles and hope they figure things out in the end. Spoiler - they kinda do.

It's only February but it's not too early to say this book will be very high up in my favourite reads of 2023. The Rachel Incident centres around the complex friendship between Rachel and James, navigating love, family, finances, and who they are versus who they want to be through their early twenties in Ireland.
While the book skilfully handles topics such as sexuality, class and abortion, it's also surprisingly funny, sweet, and didn't at all go in the direction I thought it would.
This was a five star read and I'm so looking forward to owning a physical copy so I can highlight all my favourite passages.

Loved this book! This author was new to me but would definitely read anything she writes after finishing this one. If you're a fan of character driven literary fiction- check this out!

*** four and half shiny stars

A stylistic love-child of sorts, Joanna Trollope meets Marian Keyes, rich with vulnerable, mildly self-informed people, seeking a way forward in lives that feel filled with hardships. That aren’t necessarily so. If one could just shift perspective, ever so slightly.

The story is written in the voice of Rachel Murray, our first person POV narrator, who narrates the present from her current position in the future. Describing the years of her youth - her traumas, heart aches and oh-so-complicated world as she navigates her “Uni” days, in Cork, Ireland, where figuring out who in her circle of “friends” is the adult, and who has not yet reached that point, is a trial in and of itself.

Rachel, in this time period, is comfortable describing herself, with her typical dry wit, as a “pretty cheerful person by nature. Emotionally dependable, Iike a good horse.” Unreliable narrator aside, in the eyes of this reader, Rachel is anything but cheerful and reliable. Emotionally fragile, longing for love and acceptance, and desperately afraid of abandonment - Rachel is an abundantly typical twenty-year old. And one who will need sometime to get to know herself, and the truth represented by her cohorts (most of which you will find named “James”).

Brimming with sweetness, this is a coming of age story that will likely resonate - whatever your age, and ground traveled, in your own heartfelt journey.

I loved this book, and couldn’t help but cheer for poor, misguided Rachel,her dramas, and her clumsy naïveté. A not-so-forgotten reminder for each of us, from where we came, and where we now see ourselves going.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Note: This book will be published by Knopf on June 27, 2023.

As a huge fan of Caroline O’Donoghue’s work- her two adult novels, her YA series and her fantastic podcasts- I was so excited to hear she had written another novel.

The aptly titled ‘The Rachel Incident’ is a memoir style reflection from the protagonists, Rachel, about an incident that occurred in her youth in Ireland. Rachel is an English student, who meets her best friend James working in a bookstore after the Irish banking crisis. They move in together, and create a bohemian life while trying to navigate their own struggles, and those foisted on them by a conservative society. What follows is a caring exploration of class, sexuality, reproductive rights, friendship and fidelity. I’m proffering even less than the back of the book would, because I honestly think the story should be allowed to unfurl before you.

The plot pulses along, much like life. This is so well done that it doesn’t feel like a book- it feels like a friend telling you a story. There isn’t a single dull moment. Scattered throughout are O’Donoghue’s completely unique and incisive observations about life (seriously, why don’t Subway put crisps in their sandwiches?). Every character has depth and texture and an extraordinary sense of place. It is funny, smart, and incredibly heartfelt. Everything about this book feels integral, but effortless.

I really liked this book!!

the narrative gave me sally rooney vibes in the way that it was matter of fact and quite colloquial.

the pace was quite slow but it wasn't boring as it gave time for the plot to develop and the realtionships to deepen and become intertwined.

i also love how the book described the diffrent relationships formed.

i love how it wrapped up the characters and their endings. although i do wish that the characters had been more developed, i found myself really rooting for them and their happiness at the end.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It's funny, witty, and reminded me a bit of Dolly Alderton, in the best possible way. It was very reminiscent of my own days at UCC during the months I lived in Cork myself.

The Rachel incident is definitely a book I would recommend to friends/people who are looking for a read that's both entertaining and thought provoking, with characters that feel real and have recognisable and universal experiences.

I'm so glad I was invited to read an advance copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite being sure I'm not the target audience. The author did a great job immersing the reader into life in Cork, Ireland, for broke young people around 2010. The characters are quirky, but many of their life experiences are universal and relatable. There is a lot of humor in the book as well as many serious issues. I was pleasantly surprised to get completely absorbed in the story, and I flew through the book. I loved the characters and unique scenario. I highly recommend this book.

Rachel, our neighbourhood Irish girl, moves into Cork with her bookshop-coworker James while being a uni student. Our girl also has a crush on her professor, but what happens when Rachel, James and a band of multiple other people are entwined?

It has been quite a lot of time since a book continuately made me laugh. Ms. O' Donoghue has a great sense of humor and it made me feel a little lighter. Nonetheless, the book dealt with some serious issues, such as the ban of abortions on Ireland and the social affect it had on 2008, making it completely humane, stating for example its monetary expenses due to the fact that people with uterus during that time had to go to England, they also had to take some leave off work, what they were doing was considered illegal in their state etc.

Another issue was growing up and leaving alone (or in Rachel and James' case with a roomate) for the first time. Adulthood sucks, but it gets a bit easier if you have friends. And I loved these two so much, I wish I could meet them. I loved their relationship and the fact even though they fought some times, and some wounds do not heal easily, they made it work. Especially, on the professional aspect, their goals weren't common and at times they could endager their friendship but they pushed through it. In reality, their relationship made me emotional at times.

I loved Rachel. She had such an emotional and personal development, seeing her until her 30s, starting working, becoming all the more mature on her relationships whether it be with her family or her partners. She has become one of my favorite fictional characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! The book is out on th 27th of June, be on the lookout!

It felt very stream-of-consciousness memoir which isn’t really my thing. Stopped at 4%. I think this story will resonate best with new adults. Our patrons’ demographic isn’t quite right for this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

This is the story of Rachel, a young woman in Ireland, who is finding her way in college and in life. She meets James when they work together at a book store and he quickly becomes her best friend. Rachel has a crush on her professor, and ends up working for his wife as an assistant. Things between Rachel, James and the professor do not go as you would expect, and things escalate. The book goes between the early days and years later, when misunderstandings are revealed. Great story to follow, enjoyed reading this. Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC! #therachelincident #carolineodonoghue #bookstagram #booklover #reader #bookblog #lovetoread #fictionreader #bookreview #bookrecommendation #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #takeapagefrommybook #readallthebooks #booksbooksbooks #comingofage #irishnovel #advancedreaderscopy

Like the protagonist, I am woman who graduated with a not particularly high 2:1 degree in English Literature into the middle of a recession and the culture of the early 2010s. I found this novel simultaneously unbearable in its nostalgia and revelatory in its validation of the experience.

Well written, thought-provoking literary story of a young woman, Rachel, who is living her life in search of friendship, career opportunities, and love. And she finds them in places least expected. Subject matter is heavy at times, dealing with LGBT and prejudices, along with abortion in (or rather not in) Ireland, but Caroline O'Donoghue deals with them in a respectful, caring way.

I enjoyed the flow of the story, and surprises at key moments in the book. I loved the setting in Ireland, and learned a little more about the culture of our friends "across the pond."

I would recommend this book, compassion, heartbreak, and a little bit of laughter are medicine for the soul, and The Rachel Incident has plenty.

Thank you to Caroline O'Donoghue, Virago, and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow..this book from start to finish stole my breath.

Set in the backdrop of an Irish economic downturn, the book tells the story between two best friends Rachel and James as they navigate the ups and downs of their early adulthood, from struggling to keep themselves financially float to having tumultuous love affairs with the chaotic men in their lives.

Equal parts hilarious and heartfelt, this book is the ultimate coming-of-age story that explores the depth and complexity of best friendship in such an emotionally evoking way that it will take you down the memory lane back to your days of youth. I don’t say this often about books but I loved all the characters equally and was deeply invested in their respective journeys and was beyond happy to see them grow into the person they wanted to be by the end of the novel. The characters were rich, the dialogues were witty and insightful and the book is extremely nuanced and brilliantly tackled various sensitive issues such as sexuality and abortion.
Overall, I LOVED this book and can’t wait to pick up a paper copy of this in store once it is officially released!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been a big fan of O’Donoghue since The Pool, I’ve read her YA novels and adult novels. Her debut novel is one my favourites of any writer. I struggled with this book because it’s the weakest of her works so far. I took the notes for most of this review at the nadir of this book, the 50% mark, but the last third is much better. In the last third, it commits to a more contemporary fiction feel and less memoir, and many of the flourishes I detail below fell away.

O’Donoghue always has a voice that you want to spend time with; she is witty and warm and conversational in the best ways. There is a dash of Nora Ephron in her work. But this one floundered for me. That voice couldn’t make up for what feels like self-indulgence and lack of editing in places.

Perhaps it is the ecstatic, gushing letter from the publisher foreword in my ARC that set my expectations too high. Perhaps it’s me. The novel is a narrative told to the reader by the titular Rachel, a fictionalised version of O’Donoghue. This isn’t my preferred narrative form. It allows O’Donoghue to work in a majority of internalised prose with less action - less plot, less character development. If this was a straight up memoir, perhaps that would work better, but for me, as a novel, it’s lacking. There’s also a repeated affectation of pausing the story at points where a queer character has said something so the narrator can lecture the reader about what she has learnt “in the years since” about “queer people”. This world weary hetero preaching these grand queer universal truths ten years after the events of the book didn’t work for me.

There are a lot of places where the author is very keen to crowbar in as many metaphors as possible - including a confusion metaphor about crying on a plane followed two paragraphs later by a much more effective one referencing funerals. Just stick to the good ones and cut the less effective ones, the inclusion of these constant chained metaphors serve to weaken the good ones and, by the half way point, set readers’ eyes rolling.

Similarly, O’Donoghue is so into the sound of her narrative voice that she eschews showing almost entirely in favour of telling. Her dialogue is realistic and natural, it doesn’t require an explainer for the audience of what the subtext is but O’Donoghue can’t help herself. It ends up feeling repetitive - yes, we know this character has Peter Pan tendencies, it does not bear repeating throughout the book. Yes, we know these characters are best friends who have only known each other a short time, the whole book is about that. In the latter example, what O’Donoghue fumbles is the chance to get past the superficiality of that statement and consider the insecurity inherent in it. Presumably the invulnerable James feels that insecurity and fear too, but O’Donoghue isn’t interested in mining those depths.

Having said all this, the novel IS compelling and pacy and you do want to keep reading. O’Donoghue is genuinely very talented and great at keeping her audience held rapt. It’s just not at the same level as her previous work.

I’ve read that this started as something the author wrote for her own enjoyment over the pandemic and that’s understandable. It feels like there were two other books underneath it - one a memoir and one a stab at contemporary fiction - but the author didn’t want to reshape it and commit to either, which is a real shame.

3 stars - easy to read, enjoyable voice, good last third, entertaining and compulsive throughout.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is auto fiction in the best possible way, written by a writer who is willing and able to interrogate the reasoning behind some very big (now-fictionalized) mistakes, while still giving grace to the young version of herself who made them.

Set in Cork, Ireland in 2010 (with some present-day London sprinkled throughout), we meet Rachel - a tall, somewhat awkward university student, working at a bookshop to support herself now that her parents' dental business has taken a hit during the recession. She's mistaken for another worker at the bookstore by her coworker James Devlin, and such is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. James is bold and brash and proud of his working-class roots; he's also deeply closeted - even with his new friend and roommate Rachel. When the two decide to coordinate a book signing for Rachel's Professor Fred Bryne (as a misguided attempt to help her seduce him), the truth about James' sexuality comes out and leads them down a path that forever changes the trajectory of their lives.

This book is at times laugh out loud funny, while also being deeply moving and emotional. My heart broke for Rachel, in moments when she couldn't quite see how to get out of her own way; even when I was furious with her for making the wrong choice, I could see exactly how every moment led her there. And while Rachel (in the novel) may have written this as an ode to James Devlin, it is James Carey who has burrowed himself into my heart and fully earned his happy ending.

Four and a half stars rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC.