Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

7 reviews

kirstenw13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

So good, so sweet. There were twists, there were turns. There were besties and their woes. A great book about friendship, what love can mean, the publishing industry and abortion access in Ireland in the early 2010s. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Cursing, Terminal illness, Blood, Alcohol, Homophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Medical content, Drug use, Vomit, and Infertility

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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

ninaszewczyk's review

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Outing, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Minor: Infertility, Body shaming, Abortion, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Biphobia

theunfinishedbookshelf's review

emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Abortion

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

apmreads'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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Abortion, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Moderate: Infertility, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness and Death of parent

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