Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

21 reviews

theunfinishedbookshelf's review

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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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jkamler's review against another edition

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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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astoriareader's review

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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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maregred's review against another edition

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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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bxcvi's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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13eyond's review against another edition

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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

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librarianjennifer's review against another edition

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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

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merrynthomas's review against another edition

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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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lilalhreads's review against another edition

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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

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apmreads's review against another edition

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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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