Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

21 reviews

annoyedhumanoid's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

the bridge of "You're On Your Own, Kid" by Taylor Swift, excerpted here for your reading pleasure:

The jokes weren't funny, I took the money
My friends from home don't know what to say
I looked around in a blood-soaked gown
And I saw something they can't take away
'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned
Everything you lose is a step you take
So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it
You've got no reason to be afraid
[…]
You're on your own, kid
You always have been

i'm not sure if i didn't like the ending or if i just didn't want it to end.

i'm also conflicted on the narrative structure of being told through memory with reflections and commentary peppered in. it obviously allows for deeper, more mature insight, as well as effective foreshadowing, but oftentimes it was along the lines of "i was so stupid then" which like, show don't tell, and we're definitely sufficiently shown. which i don't think is a bad thing! but i know for others it is, and so this setup feels like a concession to the crowd that can't stand, for example, Sally Rooney novels because her twenty-something young women characters are annoying or self-involved or clueless (for example, from a review of Conversations with Friends: "One of the most pretentious and self absorbed gen-z/millenial 'I am a suffering artist who is better than anyone else' main characters. Something about the damaged female writer character that is really trying my patience these days"). i am a strong advocate for allowing women characters to be annoying and self-involved and clueless. that's not to say you have to enjoy reading about them, but i don't like media catered to people who believe otherwise; just count them out of your intended audience. so the narration winds up feeling to me like a lampshading cop-out.

big thought out of the way, yeah i loved this, a truly funny in-depth character study showing significant growth and change. i fell in love with Rachel and James (Devlin; Carey is fine). storygraph was spot-on with this recommendation, thanks babe <3

miscellaneous: i was happy to see Rachel become friends with other women by the end. being surrounded almost exclusively by men for that long cannot be good for one's mental health

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Blood, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Vomit

_trisaratops's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Abortion, and Miscarriage

Minor: Drug use and Infertility

dizzzybrook's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Infertility, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content

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

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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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Infidelity

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Infertility, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent

beatriks's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved the book from beginning to end. It’s such a smart book with to-the-point observations. 

Personal growth is possible, self-reflection is invaluable.

I especially liked the cork-side of the book, a city I visited 7 years ago, and the reverberations of the financial crisis on the life of people in Ireland. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Infertility, Alcohol, Abortion, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Infertility and Classism

Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, and Homophobia

ambersbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

At one point, I started to feel like it was taking forever to get to the end and how was this even going to wrap up because the characters were stuck in a loop of shitty decisions. And then it felt like I was suddenly at the end. Despite the slight drag in the middle (I’m probably not going to be in the majority with that opinion), it was good. Couldn’t stop thinking about it and couldn’t turn pages fast enough - filled with all of the horrible decisions made by those in their early 20s striking out in the world trying to find their place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Drug use

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

challenging funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Rachel Incident.  I rolled my eyes at the title at first, but once I’d read the climactic scene, it suddenly became a perfect fit.  This is the hilarious and heartfelt story of platonic soulmates, and the writing is so fast-paced and witty that I never wanted to put it down.  With undeniable humor leading the way, O’Donoghue joins the intricate character relationships of Sally Rooney with the harsh realities of late aughts/early 2010s Ireland—recession, barriers to reproductive care, homophobia.  This book is so good it makes me want to squeal and do a little dance and also read everything else Caroline O’Donoghue has written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Medical content

Moderate: Homophobia, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Chronic illness and Vomit

caoimheisme's review against another edition

emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Abortion

Minor: Infertility