The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
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Web ID: 16686042Deserving of accolades
“The Rachel Incident” is the first adult novel by Caroline O’Donoghue that has been published in the United States, but I do not understand why. This book has all of the attributes of a great book: the characters are deep and deeply flawed. Ms. O’Donoghue’s writing is excellent, and the plot is interesting, different, and very timely. I am reviewing this book VOLUNTARILY. I was given an advanced reader’s copy, and I very much enjoyed reading it. As in any good book, the plot contains twists and turns, and several of them made me cringe. There are many scenes where the characters find themselves in awkward situations, scenes where people don’t allow themselves to speak their truths, and scenes of misunderstandings and miscommunication. All of these scenes, however, reflect normal parts of life. Fortunately, the book has a happy ending. I am not disclosing any secrets here, since we learn from the beginning that the main protagonist is happily married, pregnant and employed and that her best friend is widely famous and content and that most of the book is a reflection on the past. Since the book’s publication in June, it has received many well-deserved accolades, including being named a Best Book of the Year by Time, NPR, and LitHub. It’s a book a highly recommend, but I suspect it will appeal much more to women than to men. I look forward to reading more fiction from this terrific author.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Friendships, Lovers, and Secrets in Cork, Ireland
A coming of age story set in Cork, Ireland where college student Rachel spends her time working at the local bookstore and crushing on her English professor. She and co-worker/bestie James devise a plan to get the professor's attention but things don't go as planned and it sets off a year of friendships, love, betrayals, secrets, and other 20-something adventures -- all told to us by Rachel some 10 years after that eventful year. I had a hard time getting into this book at first because I am the type of reader who generally needs to like the main characters and I didn't particularly like Rachel at first.... I was trying to decide if it was her, or maybe at something I just don't like self-centered 20-year olds. But the story grew on me and I finished the book in two days.... wanting to see what the title incident would be and how it would resolve. I could definitely see this novel being made into a movie. I also think it would make a good book club book as it touches on many issues that would make for good discussion. Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publsiher for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Favorite Novel from 2023
The Rachel Incident was one of my favorite reads from 2023. I tore through this in two sittings and my only wish is that I could have stayed in that world a little longer. Caroline O’Donoghue brilliantly captures the messiness of finding your way in the world. Whether you are in yours 20s now or reflecting on that time in your life, these characters will speak to you.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A solid 5 star read!
What a smartly written book full of full-formed, messy characters that you cannot help but love! Rachel is on the cusp of graduating from university in Ireland and is an absolute mess. She lives with her best friend, James, who she also works with at a local bookstore. Rachel's dream is to land herself in the world of publishing and thinks she may have found her in with her professor's wife. Meanwhile, her professor is doing deliciously naughty things with James, Rachel is falling in love with an unreliable man, and James is hiding his homosexuality from everyone. I laughed and cried through this book. It is so quintessentially Irish. The writing is super witty and the setting of Cork is perfection. I loved how real Rachel felt. She is trying to find her way and making a mess of it as we often do. She has grit, though, which is super admirable. She and James had a dry humor that had me cracking up with their banter. There are many twists and turns as these two figure things out that lead to true character growth. The ending captured my heart and simply made me love the book more than I already did. This was my first read by this author. She now has a superfan in me. I loved the edginess of this book, the LGTBQIA rep, the romance, the coming-of-age aspect the friendship, and all the different kinds of love we can find in life. A solid 5 stars! Thank you to Knopf for an ARC of this book. The opinions here are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not recommended
The Rachel Incident (Hardcover) - by Caroline O'Donoghue Rachel Murray is a student at the University College Cork (UCC) in Cork, Ireland. She's majoring in English. She was originally dating Jonathan and working at O'Connor Books to help pay for her studies. At work, she meets James Devlin who later becomes her roommate and best friend. James is gay (closeted originally) but not a virgin. Rachel's professor, Dr. Fred Burne is a 38 y/o handsome man and Rachel has the hots for him. Unfortunately, the night that Rachel thought Fred would sleep with her, he ended up sleeping with James. Originally, this puts a strain on their relationship, but soon Rachel starts dating James Carey (Carey), and she and James Devlin become inseparable. So much that it causes strains in her relationship with Carey. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Carey, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected, bourgeois wife, Deenie Harrington. It all takes place in Cork, London, and New York over the span of a decade plus. The book is a mess. It's narrated from the first-person point of view and it's very boring. There are several timelines and the writer keeps going back and forth, most of the time without warning. The characters are dull and I did not care for them. There is no plot, but rather a series of events that alter the lives of the people we are supposed to care for. Not recommended!
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Young woman dealing with friendship and sexuality
Rachel is a college student and her best friend is James Devlin. When she meets another James, she tells him she already has a James in her life, so she calls him Carey (his last name). The story follows Rachel and her relationships with the 2 James. When Rachel falls for her married college professor, she is sad when he opts for her roommate instead. Rachel and Carey's relationship is good, but circumstances get in the way..The professor / roommate love affair leads to strange consequences in the life of Rachel - one she uses to her benefit (if you can call it that). Rachel reflects on all of this a few years later, when she hears news of her professor and his situation - he is in a coma. She reflects on her life then, and her life now. She also became a journalist writing on feminist issues. The book is a coming of age story of sorts, with a focus on sexuality and issues affecting sexuality. Several bursts of humor are interspersed with some serious issues. I enjoyed it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Flashback story: 20-yr-old woman in Cork, Ireland
Told mainly via flashback, we learn about Rachel’s life while she was 20 in Cork, Ireland around 2010. She tells the story from the vantage point of a married, pregnant woman in her 30s in London. Rachel’s parents have fallen on hard times due to the economic collapse and she has to work a lot while going to university locally. She meets her future best friend, James, while working in a bookstore. James is gay but hasn’t fully accepted that fact yet. Rachel has a crush on her English professor, Dr. Byrne, and arranges to hold a book launch for him at the bookstore where she works (in spite of it being a nonfiction book with a misleading title). That night a life-changing affair begins, but not one with Rachel. Life gets very complicated for Rachel, with lots of secrets to keep. Some of the “suspense” (this is definitely not a mystery or thriller!) is spoiled by the fact that we know that Rachel eventually figures out her life, but it was interesting to see how she got there. While I received the eARC from NetGalley, since I was late to it, I wound up mostly listening to the published audiobook by Random House Audio. The narrator, Tara Flynn, did an excellent job. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Coming of age is challenging
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue A warm and melancholic tale of coming of age in Ireland, 2010. Rachel and James meet at the bookshop where they are both trying to earn enough to live on. Alone, they can’t but their fabulous chemistry lets them believe they can do it together. They move into a flat on Shandon Street and they discover the most important relationship in their lives to date…best friends. Rachel has always known that James is gay, but he starts the journey well in the closet (though everyone who knows him, know!). Rachel is finishing her English degree and both of them are ready for love to find them. The twists and turns and complications – and betrayals—that lead them to their next phase are shattering… for both of them and their friendship. Importantly, access, or lack thereof to reproductive healthcare in Ireland at the time, and the rest of the world now, is a central theme in this book. The journey of those most personal of decisions is traced both for the characters and the law. The book deals with serious subjects in a respectful and often humorous way. A very good read—Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, for providing the review copy. The book was released on June 27, 2023 and is available now.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com