RaveIrish Times (IRE)For fans of the original, who may have been holding their breaths, wondering could the second book measure up to the first, it’s safe to exhale now. Again, Rachel is a superb coda to the book that helped create the writer’s legacy, a serious story told with all of her trademark wit, compassion and deftness of touch ... The scenes in which we see her at work are deeply funny and equally profound set-pieces ... The story is told in the comic voice. It’s a voice that Keyes does so well. She is hands down the funniest writer in the business ... But as usual with a Marian Keyes book...there is always the sense that an emotional sucker punch is coming. And when it does, you find yourself reading a completely different story to the one you thought you were reading a few pages earlier ... Again, Rachel is \'again, Marian\' at the very top of her game, showing off the skills that have made her one of the world’s most popular authors – her perfectly tuned ear for dialogue, her deadeye for detail and her empathy for people and the failings that make them human. It’s a big book – the review copy weighed in at a hefty 570 pages – but the story never dips, a testament to her mastery as a storyteller. This is her 17th novel and undoubtedly one of her best. Given the high standards she sets for herself every time – not to mention the challenge of producing a sequel worthy of the iconic original – that is high praise indeed.
