Reviews with content warning for Abortion - The Rachel Incident

Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

188 reviews

acashton's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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jammy_sam's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

One-sentence synopsis:
30-something woman reflects on the messy chaos of experiencing her 20s during a financial crisis in Ireland.

Who this book is for:

folks who absolutely luuuuurve a character-focused story (and can handle very little plot)
those who enjoy flawed characters
millenials
probably also 20-somethings
readers who enjoy a reflective first person POV narration

My Thoughts:
Honestly, I love a good character story. I sometimes found this book almost uncomfortably relatable, though for the most part my 20s looked absolutely nothing like Rachel and James's (and I am okay with this)! The chaos was pretty delicious though definitely emotional at times when you look outside of the near-absurdity of the scenarios our main gal finds herself in.

The big "Rachel Incident" happens quite late into the story, and it is the most plot we ever see - and I loved that! I loved all the time we got to spend getting to know our characters first before watching them navigate an unimaginable situation.

The Rachel Incident is a story about the deepest of friendships, love, and growing up. We get to touch on some deeply emotional and important topics including queerness, infidelity, and reproductive rights.

The narration honestly kept me reading non-stop. I struggled to look away as the reflective nature of the storytelling just made it feel like Rachel was my bestie and she was telling me the story of her young adulthood over some tea.

It was just delightful and made me feel so many different things. I feel like my 30-year-old self picked this up at the perfect time.

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meganzielinski's review

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

A whirlwind of a read that sheds light on an underrepresented part of young adulthood with an endearing (and sometimes uncanny) frankness. The writing style was charmingly bespoke, though I sometimes found it disconcerting in its flow. A lovely representation of Cork; although I think only people who live here or know the city well can really appreciate the rather specific nods to its geography and culture without disrupting the story’s greater focus. I think some might find it hard to root for Rachel’s journey but I liked how honest Caroline O’Donoghue was in her character development — just as in real life, people don’t always grow and/or change in the embellished ways that books often convince us is necessary.

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jsprenk's review

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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

2.5

It was an enjoyable read about a woman and her best friend/roommate coming of age, but I found it to be not particularly compelling. The knot that gets tied up as the main conflict was very complex but it never felt like a main plot driver, never felt like there was a lot of momentum behind it. The ending also was abrupt - I turned the page expecting more and was surprised that was it.

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