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A review by what_heather_loves
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
"'So listen, you're going to feel weird for a few days...But this too shall pass.' She was right. That was the great thing about being not-young: knowing through practical experience that feelings, even the worst of them, calm down and eventually ease. They're probably not gone forever...If I' d felt an emotion once, it stayed in file for-ev-er and could be reactivated it the conditions were right - or, more accurately, wrong."
Twenty-five years after Rachel's Holiday we return to Rachel's world. In her twenties, her life was a drug-addicted mess, now in her early fifties, it appears to be sorted with her partner, family and work - she even gardens! That is until someone from her past appears back in her life and makes her question it all. Rachel is older, but is she wiser?
I am fortunate to have been gifted both an ARC of this book, and Rachel's Holiday by the publisher so have been able to read one after the other. It has much of the same feel about it, but where Rachel's Holiday felt like the 1990s, Again Rachel feels like the 2020s, picking up the romance and recovery reins, but following the titular heroine. All from Rachel's perspective it's mainly present day, interspersed with back story context, like its forerunner. It's lovely to read what the Walsh family have been up to, there are also fantastic new characters and Rachel is definitely wiser now. Expertly plotted, it's beautifully written, describing pain, loss and addiction alongside love, romance and pure joy, poignantly. Like a catch up with a friend, Again Rachel is all I wanted it to be.
Twenty-five years after Rachel's Holiday we return to Rachel's world. In her twenties, her life was a drug-addicted mess, now in her early fifties, it appears to be sorted with her partner, family and work - she even gardens! That is until someone from her past appears back in her life and makes her question it all. Rachel is older, but is she wiser?
I am fortunate to have been gifted both an ARC of this book, and Rachel's Holiday by the publisher so have been able to read one after the other. It has much of the same feel about it, but where Rachel's Holiday felt like the 1990s, Again Rachel feels like the 2020s, picking up the romance and recovery reins, but following the titular heroine. All from Rachel's perspective it's mainly present day, interspersed with back story context, like its forerunner. It's lovely to read what the Walsh family have been up to, there are also fantastic new characters and Rachel is definitely wiser now. Expertly plotted, it's beautifully written, describing pain, loss and addiction alongside love, romance and pure joy, poignantly. Like a catch up with a friend, Again Rachel is all I wanted it to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Child abuse