Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Rachel Incident

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

21 reviews

lexim's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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jourdanicus's review against another edition

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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

Wow.

I don't remember where I heard this book recommended but I know I kept pushing back my library hold for it, and I'm glad I finally listened to it. So good!

I love a story told from the first person perspective of a woman main character, so that immediately put this book up my alley. Topics of abortion, feminism, friendship, complicated love are all catnip to me too.

The primary plot twist was so perfectly timed. I was so invested in the outcomes for the characters the entire time.

Just a perfect book for me personally, and my first 5⭐ read of 2024.

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mbgibson825's review

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emotional funny reflective 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

4.0

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kjm19's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-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? Yes

5.0

This is a compelling book. Contemporary Irish literature seems to be unstoppable in my view!

The characters are interesting, quirky, and flawed. The way Caroline describes them is evocative and playful. She brings a level of nostalgia to their world - even though I cannot relate - it feels like I was there. The relationships are deep and convincing, every twist and turn in their lives is surprising yet believable at the same time. The flow of the narrative entwining the past with the present isn’t distracting, you are just totally immersed with her wordplay and descriptions.

The plot is all things political and societal, yet the same time totally personal. The effortless weaving of the wider context of their world with their personal lives paints such a vivid and convincing depiction of their young lives and the good and bad decisions that they make in their specific circumstances. The ending is also satisfying. Everything works!

It is clever and enchanting. I look forward to reading more of her work.

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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-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

4.75

This book is fully and completely worth the hype. Rachel as a character really resonated with me and I loved her narration. The only criticism I have is

the cheap "twist" of Carey being the husband. I wish that had been upfront because it makes a lot of the early book narration awkward. The journey of them getting together would have still been fully worth it without a looming "husband" figure

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carly_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It detached me from any kind of inherited moral system. I stopped sizing others up in accordance with the values I had been taught: who was a loser, who was closeted, who was cheating on their wife. I learned the value of context, and of people.

When something good happens to you at that age, you can’t settle with the notion that it’s a one-off. You want it to be the beginning of a tradition. That’s how I felt about that night: I wanted it already to be a memory, a foundational one, a first evening of many similar evenings. I wanted future nostalgia, a rear-view, years-old fondness for something that had literally just happened.

There is a certain personality type that is addicted to the concept of its own intellect. They are the people who insist they saw the twist in the movie coming, who always thought that the divorced couple were unhappy, that the female celebrity seemed crazy.they are also the people who always knew you were gay, and they can’t resist talking about it.

It was easy, now that I understood passion properly, to see why you would move heaven and earth to secure it.

Happiness felt very far away, and like something only the innocent were entitled to.

This is ultimately a story about love in all of its forms, including but not limited to romantic and platonic. It’s about wrapping your life around people and how much it hurts to stand on your own and make decisions that will be the best for you but might hurt someone else. It’s also a tender exploration into how scary it is to grow up and to have other people make assumptions about you; plus the idea of punishing yourself so much that anything someone else could say/do wouldn’t really compare.

On a similar note, I appreciated the ideas about how morality isn’t always black and white as well as fault; that there’s a certain grace in realizing people are more than their bad decisions.

Having the storyline set against the Irish financial crisis added layers to the discussion of privilege and class and how the circumstances you’re born into dictate the ease with which you’re able to move through life.

I did get a little confused with the jumping around in time but if you’re interested in no-plot-just-vibes Irish lit fic at all, this is a great read. I always love a book where I’m not quite sure how I’m feeling but then the end really sells it to me. There were times when I was genuinely tearing up (which I was not expecting) because I felt for the characters so much.

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shelbygibbs's review

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challenging emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So enjoyed this! I’m in love with Carey as a character and I think everyone is so well written. Each chapter I said id pause there and was forced to keep reading by how good it was…

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karo_g's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-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

3.75

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annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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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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