Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

38 reviews

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

fiercereadsfiction's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Chronic illness and Sexual content

astoriareader's review

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

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Classism, Abortion, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Biphobia, and Body shaming

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

rcy's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“I thrive on over-exposure, on elaborate jokes, on private mythology.”

I really enjoyed this story about friendship, reputation and love, even if it did drop me right back into my twenties.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Abortion, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Infertility and Alcohol

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

librarianjennifer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Biphobia

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

ncoletti's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Abortion, Alcohol, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Mental illness and Infertility