The Rachel Incident follows Rachel and James in their messy uni years; working in a bookshop and living in a sub-par flat together whilst watching sitcoms. Rachel and James are best friends, peas in a pod, and work together, live together and devise a plan to seduce Rachel's professor, together.

This doesn't go to plan.

Crude and gritty in the most honest way, The Rachel Incident was a delightfully addictive novel which I found myself stealing moments for. When I put this novel down I found myself picking it back up again, craving the next event in Rachel and James' life- however mundane.

Caroline O'Donoghue writes with nerve and sincerity which translates through her characters. They are witty, funny, have secrets and worries that we as readers get to experience and what make the story all that more juicy.

I really enjoyed the inner monologues of Rachel that were peppered in between the narrative, giving insight into the inner turmoil that Rachel experiences, the anxieties and where her mind is at when other characters are away.

This book fits in with the messy girls genre, but rather than fitting neatly in the puzzle piece it is more subdued and relaxing; mess with kindness and wholesome moments. It is a book that is joyous to read and seductive in the way it rolls through life and all its drama, but grounds the characters in happy moments and revelations. A satisfying and beautiful book.

"The Rachel Incident. The idea of being a figure in their lives, the same way they were phantoms in mine."

Rachel has her life together; happily married, expecting her first baby, a successful journalist for a newspaper for Irish expats in England. But when she hears that her former professor, the man she was rumoured to have a clandestine affair with in college is in a coma, she reflects back to the days she'd tried to leave in the past. The days she was obsessed with Dr Byrne and their live became inexplicably entwined in ways they'd never imagined. The days that led up to the incident.

The very incident that has followed everyone involved to this very day.

"I still thought I was the centre of this story, the main character, just because it had started that way."

I absolutely adore O'Donoghue's writing - and this is no exception - razor sharp, clever and exceptionally entertaining.

This raw and emotional story delves into the strange truth that we are often a sum of the people we meet - we take on their mannerisms, we mirror things we love about them, we are hurt and hardened, and sometimes we create our entire self around them. She looks at the powers of sexuality, desire and desperation and how they affect us.

Rachel was an intriguing character - she meanders in her narration, taking her time, thinking and reflecting into the past. At first I thought the erratic, non-linear, irreverent style of storytelling would be difficult to follow but instead every single quirk and strange thought made Rachel very endearing and interesting. She was painfully self-aware, although sometimes retroactively - she looked back and saw the bad choices she made, the absurdity of trying to be an adult as a teenager, and the strange things we do from desperation. She was bold and beautiful, and I loved her even in her worst moments.

Her relationship with her best friend James was compelling to see - they were in sync, soulmates, but almost unhealthily so at times. Their lives were merged together so complexly it was hard to sometimes tell them apart. James wasn't always the best friend, he was human and made terrible choices that would ripple throughout both of their lives and we follow both of them as they grow up, try to find themselves, fail and try again.

I love how Caroline's Irish heritage always shines through in her writing - it's something I always love to read about. I have Irish family but don't call myself Irish as I know nothing about that part of my history so this always me happy. But aside from that, she also never shies away from the harsher sides of history; showing the societal class divides, prejudice and troubled times that aren't too far in the past. It raises such critical points about the importance of safe access to reproductive healthcare and the difference that privilege can have in every part of our lives.

This is a story about love, but it isn't a love story. It's messy, painful, confusing and chaotic - showing the many different ways love can come in and leave our life.

Cor, Caroline O'Donoghue sure can write can't she! I really, really loved this! Funny, sad and wonderfully bittersweet - it's the story of all-consuming love, but maybe not the kind you'd expect. A gripping story, scathingly funny with fully-fleshed out characters. I burned through reading it, in as close to one sitting as possible. As sad as I was to finish it, I cannot wait to read it again!

I am a huge fan of Caroline's work, and this one was also another fantastic read. The way this was written was like being Rachel's bff, and you truly felt through every experience she went through. I loved the raw, open friendship with James and how they had each other's backs. And how other relationships tied in. A truly wonderful read. Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'll wait until closer to the publication date to post a full review, but for now I'll say that THE RACHEL INCIDENT is so brilliant and has one of the most believable and relatable voices I've read recently - at times I felt like I actually knew Rachel Murray, at others I felt like I once was her. This is an unforgettable novel.

“The Rachel Incident is an all-consuming love story. But it's not the one you're expecting. It's unconventional and messy. It's young and foolish. It's about losing and finding yourself. But it is always about love.”

I knew as soon as I saw The Rachel Incident advertised that I would be reading it. I am only delighted I made that decision as I, captivated from page 1, devoured the book in a day.

Primarily set in Cork against the backdrop of the recession, this story charts the story of Rachel Murray and James Devlin, who share a damp, dilapidated house in Shandon.

Rachel and James meet at the bookstore where they work; they are inseparable from the get go but have very different backgrounds. She’s a student, the child of middle-class parents hit hard by the financial crash, himself reared in poverty. When he spots her crush on her married professor, Dr Byrne, James sets about helping her to act on it, but things take a different turn from the one Rachel hoped, putting their friendship at risk.

Rachel is our narrator, a girl in her early 20s battling to find independence and her place in the world. Rachel’s voice is wonderfully rich and full of sarcasm. She is funny and self-deprecating and so relatable, realistic and raw that it almost feels like she is writing a memoir.

Interlaced through the book, we also hear from the older Rachel, a journalist in London, as she reflects on her current life and back on her previous self, the decisions she made, and why.

The Rachel Incident is written beautifully, it covers some deep, hard-hitting subjects, but they’re covered with great sensitivity and plenty of humour. I cried for the characters, but I also cried laughing.

I am weak for The Rachel Incident; it deserves all the love 5 ⭐️

Caroline O’Donoghue, you have me very homesick now girl, … I'm off to look at flight availability.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advance copy in return for an honest review.

This was such a satisfying, entertaining and heartfelt read. I loved the Irish setting and the narrative voice was so rich and well written. I really liked Rachel as a character and was rooting for her from the start. I also loved the other characters that O’Donoghue created, James, Carey, Fred and Deenie, all so vivid, flawed and likeable. This was very unputdownable and I was hooked from the start.

Caroline O'Donoghue's writing has really carved out it's own distinctive style and this is no different. The Rachel Incident is relatable, dark and intensely readable. Caroline does a flawed main character really well and Rachel (and her cast of friends/acquaintances) are no different, to the point that you're never really very sure who you should feel sorry for! I really enjoyed this book, if you like contemporary fiction with a younger tricky to love female protagonist, you'll like The Rachel Incident.

I rather loved this. It's extremely readable - and I mean this in the best sense: it's stylistically slick and the plot moves forward - and I was gripped. I do have one or two quibbles about elements of the ending, but it's great fun. Recommend.

Genius! I laughed, cried, felt emotionally wrung out, and then wanted to do it all over again. Read it now. Immediately. And savour every page.

I loved this book! It was hilarious, and nostalgically captured a specific moment in time. The intensity of friendships and experiences of your early twenties were shown perfectly.

Rachel has fallen in love with her university tutor and when the chance comes to host an event to market his book at the bookshop where she works with her best friend James, she jumps at the chance to kickstart her life with a passionate affair.

Sadly for Rachel, things don't work out quite the way she planned and it is the platonic yet enduring love between her and James which is the crux of this book.

This is a pretty perfect coming of age novel. Set in Cork during the recession of the Eighties this balances the sheer desperation of the times and the constrictions of Ireland's political life against the blossoming of young lives which do not fit the accepted mould.

It's very, very funny and also desperately serious and at times heartbreaking. O'Donoghue balances all these things beautifully to give you a highly believable, deeply affecting slice of life and characters that you care deeply about.

I wish I could think of a funny review to match the laugh out loud comedy of The Rachel Incident, but I definitely can't do it justice. This book is brilliant. I loved the central best friend relationship, but I also adored the romantic relationship and how it develops so naturally.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of the best book I've read so far this year.

I love O’Donoghue’s previous adult novels and her podcast, so I was massively looking forward to this book. I’m all in for a love story about a friendship, and the central friendship is very charming.

There’s some nice reflection on subtle class differences and signifiers, although I found Rachel’s cluelessness about her own privilege a bit grating (I could maybe forgive it of a 20 year old, but the set up is that these are the words of her older self, looking back on her early 20s).

For a book that wants to make a point about access to abortion (the writer even says so in the acknowledgements), setting up an abortion and then shying away from it felt like a faltering of confidence.

In jokes and references from her podcast are scattered throughout the book, which (combined with the fact the author did live, in Cork, with her best friend, in this era) makes this feel very autofiction.

If this book had existed when I was in my messy early 20s, I suspect it would have become my absolute bible. In my late 30s it didn’t quite capture me.

The recent influx of Irish authors writing wonderful novels continues with this brilliant coming of age millenial melodrama by Caroline O'Donoghue. As she brings you back to the late noughties of Ireland, so much of her protagonist, Rachel's story will ring true to many, as we follow her early twenties and she attempts to find her footing in a confusing murky world of romance, responsibilities and friendship.

As the older Rachel reflects back on her previous self, you feel the nostalgia of your own early twenties, the decisions you made reflected throughout Rachel's story.

A truly enjoyable, funny, heartfelt coming of age story for the post Celtic Tiger ages.

Thank you to Penguin random House and Net-galley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely devoured this in two days. Incredibly nostalgic for people in mid-thirties now who spent their student days during that recession. Rachel is undeniably flawed but still likeable. A chaotic story of young passionate friendship.

Dazzling, heartbreaking, and at times so startlingly relatable that I found myself catching my breath - I didn’t expect to love a book so much. O’Donoghue genuinely had me laughing out loud (when my head wasn’t spinning from ‘the Incident’).

Spectacular. Everyone should read a copy immediately. I can’t wait to own a print version.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown for this absolute privilege.

I loved this book. The characters are all intricately written with their own unique presence and different shades of dark and light. I found Rachel instantly relatable and loved the amount of detail put into all of her relationships throughout the novel; not just the Jameses and Harrington-Byrnes, but even in the shorter sections on her family. It's funny, incisive writing along the lines of Maeve Binchy and even, at times, Marian Keyes.

Not once has Caroline O'Donoghue disappointed me - if I needed any further proof of her brilliance, then THE RACHEL INCIDENT was certainly a good enough read to solidify her as an auto-buy author.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue

3.75 stars

💔A story about being a mess in your 20s, being in love and being a woman with restricted reproductive rights.

💔 Rachel’s best friend is a man named James who starts an affair with her English professor after she introduces them. We follow Rachel and James as they find love and heartbreak in 2009 Cork.

💔 What I liked about this book: There were some really funny one liners that I highlighted and sent to friends- the last time I did this was with Boy Parts. For example:
‘While I was trying so desperately hard to be Bookshop Girl, James was effortlessly being that rarer, more beautiful thing: Bookshop Twink.’
And
‘Fuck you, I thought. I’m going to shag your husband just for that.’

💔Overall thoughts: I found this book easy to read and pretty enjoyable but I don’t think this sort of autofiction is for me. I was a bit let down by this because I LOVED All Our Hidden Gifts by the same author. However, this book will definitely be someone else’s cup of tea! If you like Sally Rooney, romance books or even just a sarcastic narrator then you should definitely give this a go.