Look, I'm Irish. I see an Irish author with a new book set in Ireland, I'm there.

The Rachel Incident, is a funny story about friendship, love, and the chaos that is learning to grow up. As someone in my late twenties this book was a bit of a trip down memory lane to a few years back and perhaps a bit of a reality check.

The story follows Rachel, who is studying English at College whilst working in a bookstore, where she meets James. They become instant best friends and move in together. Many people question if James is gay, but he never says and Rachel doesn't care. Rachel develops a crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne, so intense that Rachel then sets up a book signing for Dr. Byrne at the bookstore with the help of James. Soon things become a little complicated for Rachel, relationships get tangled and feelings get hurt.

Throughout the story the perspective is seen from the older, pregnant Rachel who appears to be finally settled which was a nice touch and made the story come through as more personal, as if someone was reminiscing to a friend. The story itself is fun, heartbreaking and messy - just like your twenties and while, I dont think it's a particularly original story, most of us have experienced some kind of heartbreak and disaster in our twenties. It is peppered with larger topics such as abortion in Ireland, miscarriage and economic crisis which make the story 'larger' in its context and counteracts the personal level which the main plot follows.

I enjoyed the writing and the complexity of the story which was counteracted perfectly with a touch of humour and wit, because at the end of the day it is realistic to laugh even in the most dire seeming circumstances (maybe that's just an Irish thing?). The characters are flawed and unlikeable, but redeemable and perhaps too relatable. I spent the entire novel wanting to see them succeed and excel which is a testament to the writing and character development in the novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley, to Little Brown Book Group, Virago, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this, the writing was so beautiful and it felt so real and raw. I loved the story and the characters, such a good book.

I really enjoyed this book from the very first chapter and found it hard to put down. A very funny and enjoyable book that I will definitely tell my friends about. Looking forward to her next book already!

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue is a fine achievement, hilarious, satisfying but also painfully emotional.

Rachel Moore and James Devlin meet in a bookshop in Cork in 2010 where they both work; they become friends, move into a shared house, graduate to being best friends sharing more experiences in a single year than you might expect in a lifetime.

Their dramas are different but they share every detail with each other, consolidating the relationship. It is Rachel's final year in college and it is proving difficult with essay submissions, exams, financial troubles, relationship issues. James has a slightly different catalogue of challenges but has an idea that will help solve their problems.

O'Donoghue's hilarious dialogue masks more serious underlying issues in Irish society of the day. Her characters are superbly entertaining, with real points of view about real issues. I particularly enjoyed the final chapters but the entire book was a great read!

The Rachel Incident is a coming-of-age story about the messiness of love, friendship and consequences. It's an easy read and will be quite relatable to many who became adults in the 2010s. It explores topics such as LGBTQ+, abortion and the recession, which makes the narrative a little more thematically rich too. However, I did find the characters to be quite 2D and not particularly compelling, as they fell into stereotypes most of the time.

Rachel meets her best friend, James whilst working in a bookstore in Cork. When Rachel develops a crush on her professor, Dr Fred Byrne, James helps her organise a book reading at the bookstore in order to seduce him. What happens next is not what she (or I) expected!!! I thought I knew what ‘The Rachel Incident' was going to be about. I was very wrong!

I absolutely loved this book, it was an outstanding read although, heartbreaking at times . I will be looking for other works by the author and 100% recommend this book

The Rachel Incident
by Caroline O'Donoghue

The funniest, the most touching, the most brilliantly plotted love story I have read in ages, which captures the excruciating messiness of being 20, first attempts at independence, crises of confidence, falling in love with the wrong people, making all the wrong choices and valuing living in the moment over facing the consequences.

I was grabbed by this from the very first page. It has a fantastic sense of place in it's Cork setting and I recognise so many of the places, the personal traits, the idioms and attitudes from the Corkonians I know and love. But it's the sense of time that got to me, not necessarily the 2010ness, which is definitely correct, but that period of time in a person's life when a mixture of devil-may-care flightiness and one or two circumstances beyond one's control can change the trajectory of your life and career entirely until you feel like you are stuck on a conveyor belt slowly heading the wrong way.

There are two major shake ups in this novel which literally made me gasp out loud. The first is tantalising, and immediately changes the course of the narrative. The second was like hitting the brakes of your bike and being flung over the handlebars in slow motion. They are excellently timed and make the pacing of this book nothing short of perfection.

I love Rachel. At first I wanted to slap her, but this author knows how to craft a character and I soon found myself becoming Rachel. The nostalgia overtook me and found myself back in my own head in the late 1980s. I adore the character of James and their immediate connection. The intricacies between Rachel and both James', and the Harrington-Byrnes are very real and at times gave me "Conversations with Friends" vibes.

Trigger warnings regarding the issues surrounding access to reproductive healthcare in Ireland before the repeal of the eight amendment in 2018. This is the heart of the story which the author has delicately wrapped in a wonderfully authentic and humorous tale of romantic and platonic love, where the protagonist gets to reflect as an adult on the intractability of life. Fabulous.

Publication Date: 22nd June 2023
With thanks to #netgalley and #littlebrownbookgroupuk

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

Rachel meets her best friend James while they're both working in a bookshop. He is a closeted gay man, and she is a girl in lust with her college professor, Dr. Byrne. As their lives become more imterwined with the Byrnes, it leads to tension and heartbreak. Summer 2010 will be one that neither James nor Rachel will ever forget.

I absolutely loved this. Easy to read, not too many characters, and it encapsulated everything about what it meant to be in your twenties in Ireland in the noughties. If you liked Normal People, you'll enjoy this.

Thanks to @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the advanced copy. I'll be picking up more of Caroline's work for the summer.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#therachelincident #netgalley #netgalleyreads #summerreads #holidayread #irishauthor #readirishwomen

This was a brilliantly written book. Everything felt so real, I had to keep double checking whether it was a memoir or if was a work of fiction, I kept doubting myself. It was equal parts funny as it was emotional and gripping. It was messy and honest, but also wholesome and raw. I think it delivered the point it needed to make quite well, also. I recommend it!

"The Rachel Incident" is a love story. But not the kind we usually read about, the kind between 2 best friends.
I loved this book and read it in 2 sittings.
Rachel is at college in Cork and meets James while they are working. They don't hit it off straight away, but they soon move in together and become inseparable.
When Rachel has a crush on her professor, Dr Byrne, James helps her organise a book reading at the bookstore where they work... and from there everything changes.

I loved this book (yes, I know this is the second time I've said it, but I really did). It was unexpected, unpredictable and I was delighted, even in the ending.
Caroline O'Donoghue makes a beautiful job of narrating what it was like being a 20-something in the 2010s, and even though I certainly did not grow up in Ireland, I could really empathise with Rachel, how she felt and how she was navigating through her love life, her family life and through life with and without her best friend.

I went into this totally believing that I knew what 'The Rachel Incident' was going to be about. I had no idea. What I found was a story about friendship and love, a story about heartbreak and loss. And I loved it. The ending ..... We are in Cork in Ireland in the beginning of the 2ooos, but the first chapter is almost present day before Rachel takes us back to the final year at university. She has got a job at a bookshop and meets James, a co-worker, who is exciting and vibrant - everything that she feels she isn't. They quickly become inseparable, become housemates in a two bedroom flat and suddenly her life is more exciting. At this time she also develops a crush on her English professor, Dr Byrne and with James pushing her on, together they set up an author event at the bookshop to launch his book and get her closer to him. But what happens is not what she expected, friendships are tested and the relationship with Dr Byrne and his wife become much closer than she expected. I enjoyed Rachel, she has so many flaws but she is human, a twenty-year old trying to find her way and she does make some decision that makes you shudder, but ultimately she is endearing. And as for James - I wish I had a friend like him. Through Rachel, the author looks at the issues that were front page for Ireland at that time - recession, the abortion laws. She also touches upon sexuality, body image and searching for a career in a recession. I found humour in this book, especially in the relationship between Rachel and James. I also loved the way that as Rachel is telling us her story, looking back on events, we not only get her point of view of things as they happened, but there is also a hint at what she thinks now as she looks back. She can see her mistakes. I'd love to know what happens next.

Outstanding.

Between the beauty of Cork, the intense lives and loves, and the beautifully considered narrations this book is a gem.

Such a deeply moving and carefully crafted book about love and all it’s consequences.

I loved loved loved this book! Honestly Caroline O'Donoghue can do no wrong in my eyes and this book was exactly what I hoped it would be when I read the blurb.
It was tender, heartbreaking at times and just so incredibly real. I felt like I lived this novel if that makes sense and I don't think there can be any greater compliment than this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I had seen a few people on my instagram posting about this book so decided to give it a go and I am not disappointed that I did. I loved the narration in this book of the main character Rachel and her friendship with James Devlin. I don't want to give too much away as I think its better going in blind like I did but I will say its set in Cork, Ireland in the early 2000's and it follows Rachel and James's friendship over the course of a few years. They're proof you can find your soulmate in your friend but when develops a crush on her lecturer Dr Fred Byrne, James and her friendship is put to the test.

I found Carolines writing to flow so effortlessly and I felt really engrossed in Rachel and James's lives. It was set in a time of importance in Ireland and it is included in the story without feeling like it's forced or a throw away. It raises a lot of thoughts on relationships both platonic and romantic and the naivety of youth without being patronising. I probably would have missed out on reading this if it weren't for Bookstagram. I set up my reading instagram account in the hopes of expanding my reading horizons and I feel I definitely have. I will be looking for other works by the author. I would recommend this book 100%.

I loved this book - it was my first Caroline O Donoghue but won't be my last.
Set in Cork City, we follow Rachel in the 2010s in her final year of college against the backdrop of the recession in Ireland (Very appropriate as I was a similar age then) and her platonic and romantic and also professional relationships.
The characters in this story feel so real , flawed yet lovable. The plot, while maybe not fast paced, is completely engaging. It also encapsulates a number of different social issues. I genuinely could have read another 500 pages of it. I already see comparisons to Sally Rooney which I can understand as that was my thought too, but I found this to be be even more compelling, and more soul.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

I will be reading more Caroline O'Donoghue, I tell you that.
If you liked Normal People and Conversations With Friends but felt like they were too serious and depressing, read this book! It is about Ireland during the recession of the 2010s, but also about being a young woman, friendship, and finding yourself. The characters are interesting and round, but you can only know as much about them as the narrator does, which makes it all the more interesting.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC.

The Rachel Incident is a coming of age story set in Cork which centres around the best friendship of Rachel and James and the messiness of their early 20’s and respective loves and career aspirations. It is set during Ireland’s recession and the descriptions are so vivid you feel like you are there. When Rachel moves to London, O’Donoghue perfectly captures the loneliness of the city before you establish connections and when you have little money to enjoy it. Perfectly observed throughout. Thank you to Netgalley and Virago for an ARC of Caroline O’Donoghue’s latest novel.

Absolutely loved this book. Set in Cork city in 2010, a story about 2 best friends navigating through their early twenties. Great characters throughout the story, so relatable, great writing. Wouldn't have minded if it had another 100 pages. Will keep an eye out for this author in the future. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue* is a supremely perfect read about friendship, soulmates and what a uniquely special thing it is to be Irish in the world. Rachel is now an established journalist in London with a wonderful husband and a baby on the way. A chance encounter imparts some startling news and Rachel is thrust back into her final year of college, living with her best friend James, being typically messy, hedonistic 20 year olds, and to the affair that nearly broke them both.

As Rachel reminisces about that time, the depth of her relationship with James and their antics will take your breath away. It will be so painfully relatable to anyone who also graduated during the recession - the unsurety and unease of it all - and who had that one ride-or-die friend that was as messy, as sensitive, as troubled as you. The way they loved each other unconditionally was a joy to read and a welcome reminder that not all true love is romantic.

The scandal that eventually burst the Rachel-James bubble made my jaw drop. The build-up was so well executed that it hid the bombshell while also being so regrettably on-point for the Ireland of the time. Hilariously messy, relatably poignant, this is a must read.

If you're a fan of coming-of-age stories with a bit of a twist, then this book is for you. The relationships are a bit messy, it captures a person in her early twenties' life realistically, and if yo inclined the reader can identify with Rachel.

For me, though, it was not.