jkamler's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Alcohol
Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, and Outing
Minor: Classism, Cancer, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent
astoriareader's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
SYNOPSIS:
- Rachel becomes best friends with James, a gay man. An older Rachel reflects & tells us their story living in Cork, Ireland, in their early twenties.
- We learn how their lives intertwine with Rachel’s professor, Dr. Byrnes, and Rachel’s first love, Carey.
MY THOUGHTS
- Coming-of-age story
- A little slow in some parts
- I didn’t connect to the main character
- I didn’t love this book. It was an okay read to me.
- James felt like stereotypical gay bestie, and there wasn’t much else added to his personality.
- Parts of the story are messy, which is fine. I get it. We all make mistakes. The story felt unnecessarily long & slow in telling them.
- I did enjoy the political & social commentary about women’s issues in Ireland.
- I liked the ending. I wish we spent more time learning about Rachel in present day. The bulk of the book focuses on the time period of finishing college & the few months after graduating.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️i’m in the minority. this coming-of-age story was just an ok read for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Infidelity
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Infertility, and Homophobia
Minor: Death of parent
maregred's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Infidelity
Moderate: Infertility and Classism
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, and Homophobia
bxcvi's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Miscarriage
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Death
13eyond's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion and Miscarriage
Minor: Infertility, Cancer, and Death of parent
librarianjennifer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Biphobia
merrynthomas's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Sexual content
lilalhreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Abortion, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
apmcmullen's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised by The Rachel Incident. It's another sad girl litfic/disaster girl novel with all the things you can expect from those: character-driven, slower paced, nuanced and detailed, all with characters who make questionable decisions. In the end, though, I loved these characters and I loved this story.
The Rachel Incident follows Rachel Murray in her last semester of college in 2010 and then a bit afterward, occasionally jumping to her present-day life. We see her move in with a co-worker from the bookstore she works at, James, who is a closeted gay man. They immediately hit it off, and in his plot to get Rachel to hook up with the English professor she has a crush on, he ends up hooking up with the professor instead. After Rachel graduates, she interns for the professor's wife, who works in publishing, and a myriad of chaos ensues all alongside Rachel trying to figure out life and find stable work during the 2010 economic crisis.
I really related to Rachel in a lot of ways. I felt like the general topics of finding friendship, making any kind of connection, searching for a career, and trying to find a place in the world after college were all very relatable. It made me laugh out loud at times. I loved the overall arc of the story, and the journeys these characters took from start to finish. I enjoyed the writing style and the ways in which the author caught the essence of scene-building with her words. I pictured everything vividly. I felt every emotion. And, unlike some disaster girl novels, I enjoyed watching Rachel grow into a person with merit.
The Rachel Incident follows Rachel Murray in her last semester of college in 2010 and then a bit afterward, occasionally jumping to her present-day life. We see her move in with a co-worker from the bookstore she works at, James, who is a closeted gay man. They immediately hit it off, and in his plot to get Rachel to hook up with the English professor she has a crush on, he ends up hooking up with the professor instead. After Rachel graduates, she interns for the professor's wife, who works in publishing, and a myriad of chaos ensues all alongside Rachel trying to figure out life and find stable work during the 2010 economic crisis.
I really related to Rachel in a lot of ways. I felt like the general topics of finding friendship, making any kind of connection, searching for a career, and trying to find a place in the world after college were all very relatable. It made me laugh out loud at times. I loved the overall arc of the story, and the journeys these characters took from start to finish. I enjoyed the writing style and the ways in which the author caught the essence of scene-building with her words. I pictured everything vividly. I felt every emotion. And, unlike some disaster girl novels, I enjoyed watching Rachel grow into a person with merit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Abortion, Infidelity, and Homophobia
Moderate: Infertility, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
Minor: Terminal illness and Death of parent
sara_machado's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
<i> Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!</i>
<b>The Rachel Incident</b> is a coming of age story of a Millennial girl in Cork, at the peak of the financial crises. It is also a love story, a journey of self discovery and acceptance and a tale of the lack of reproductive healthcare in Ireland.
I absolutely adored this book! It was so easy to relate with the characters that parts of the story just felt like a trip down memory lane. Being a Millennial myself, who was also trying to find her place in the world at the described timeline, probably enhanced my understanding of some of the struggles. However, Caroline O’Donoghue perfectly describes the insecurities, struggles, feelings, passions and the absolute mess of entering the adult age, which I believe are pretty much the same for all generations.
The writing is beautiful and I particularly liked the fact the story is told from the present time. This allow us not only to experience what the characters were feeling at the time, but also see it through adult eyes and understand the different perspectives.
This book is perfect for Sally Rooney fans, with the advantage of including likable and a lot less pretentious characters. <b>The Rachel Incident</b> will be published in July and I couldn’t recommend it enough!
<b>The Rachel Incident</b> is a coming of age story of a Millennial girl in Cork, at the peak of the financial crises. It is also a love story, a journey of self discovery and acceptance and a tale of the lack of reproductive healthcare in Ireland.
I absolutely adored this book! It was so easy to relate with the characters that parts of the story just felt like a trip down memory lane. Being a Millennial myself, who was also trying to find her place in the world at the described timeline, probably enhanced my understanding of some of the struggles. However, Caroline O’Donoghue perfectly describes the insecurities, struggles, feelings, passions and the absolute mess of entering the adult age, which I believe are pretty much the same for all generations.
The writing is beautiful and I particularly liked the fact the story is told from the present time. This allow us not only to experience what the characters were feeling at the time, but also see it through adult eyes and understand the different perspectives.
This book is perfect for Sally Rooney fans, with the advantage of including likable and a lot less pretentious characters. <b>The Rachel Incident</b> will be published in July and I couldn’t recommend it enough!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Abortion, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent