A review by analenegrace
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Read for the July meeting of the Book Easy Club in New Orleans, LA.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! It was so easy to read and had me laughing and giggling for most of the book. The way the book is written feels like a friend telling you a story she hasn't really told anyone before. Rachel, as our narrator, smoothly switches back and forth between her past and present, making this book fly by and almost impossible to put down. 

Plot-wise, I found this book super compelling because it looks into a complicated period of two peoples' lives and the 2010s Ireland/Cork college experience. Rachel's experience, particularly with
abortion
, is a complex and heartbreaking thing that so many women in Ireland at the time dealt with. 

Rachel and James were the type of college best friends who would be fun to hang out with for a little bit but also were kind of the worst, and it felt very realistic. I liked seeing the two of them grow from their co-dependent friendship into a more adult friendship. 

Romantic relationships in this book felt super well-represented as complicated, unique, and difficult. 

This is a coming-of-age story at its heart, and I thought it was fantastic!