Review: The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue

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I was recommended The Rachel Incident by my very lovely Auntie (hi auntie Lesley!) and it absolutely did not disappoint. O’Donoghue has some of the most compelling prose and unique narrative voices I’ve read for a while. The Rachel Incident recounts the university days and subsequent years of best friends James and Rachel as they navigate life as two people with big ideas and a grandiose (although not undeserved) view of themselves in the small Irish city of Cork. O’Donoghue explores love, loss, friendship, desire for validation, feeling lost, feeling found, feeling too good and not good enough. In short, everyone’s experience of early adulthood.

O’Donoghue also looks into the complexities of power imbalances in both romantic and platonic relationships. Particularly the dynamic between Rachel, James, and Rachel’s university professor, which was handled with such sensitivity and grace, I loved the exploration of grey areas in life and love. O’Donoghue explores a lot of very raw and difficult topics here in an open and frank manner but despite that there is a kindness and warmth that seems to emanate throughout the text. I listened to the audiobook and the voice actor was so wonderful so if you can I would highly recommend doing that. I think it creates a much more immersive experience. ✨Side note✨ I don’t know if this is just an Edinburgh thing, but did you know the library has an app where you can borrow audiobooks for free? It’s called ‘Libby’ and it's AMAZING. There’s hundreds of audiobooks and you know it’s actually ones you would want to listen to, they have so many new releases. For example, I’ve listened to, Yellowface, Babel, Bandit Queens, the Bridgerton novels, Breasts and Eggs, Harry Potter, I’m Glad My Mom Died and Weyward just to name a few! Plus I know they have all the classic novels as well. Anyway, the point is investigate if your local library has an app, because Libby has been kind of life changing vibes for me. I absolutely LOVE listening to audiobooks when I’m going on walks, doing house work or admin stuff, anything! It’s such a good way to get more reading into your daily life. ✨Side note over✨ Right back to The Rachel Incident !

I loved the strange imagery that was sometimes unnerving, at other times beautiful even when describing the most mundane things. O’Donoghue’s descriptions create the most vivid scenes and offer deeper understandings of the characters and their innerworkings with pinpoint accuracy. There is no room for interpretation outside of her vision. I mean that as a very high compliment. The whole book felt extremely close and intimate, mirroring Rachel and James’ relationship both with each other and with Cork city. I don’t know how to explain it but there was something about this whole book that absolutely gripped me. I got completely lost of Rachel’s world. I would highly recommend The Rachel Incident and I look forward to exploring more of Caroline O’Donoghue’s work.

Love, Grace xx