This book follows a set a friends that first met in their college dorm, and have continued their love and friendship. They came together once a long time ago after tragedy struck and one of them was lost, and made a pact to continue to get together afterwards to celebrate each others lives.

I felt so many emotions while reading this one (translation - I cried - a lot 😢) but the main one was love - love of your spouse, your friends, and of life.

Trigger Warnings: past divorce, prison time, cancer, terminal illness, drugs, nudity, death, grief, alcohol, sex, HIV, past overdose, death of a friend

Representation: Colombian, vegetarian, Gay, HIV+

The Celebrants is an adult contemporary about a gathering of friends. It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living—that their lives mean something, to one another if not to themselves.

But this reunion is different. They’re not gathered as they were to bolster Marielle as her marriage crumbled, to lift Naomi after her parents died, or to intervene when Craig pleaded guilty to art fraud. This time, Jordan is sitting on a secret that will upend their pact.

This is such a cool premise! I wish my high school friends and I started doing this years ago, but hey! Never too late, maybe! This author has such an amazing writing style and I love a good cast style stories. I loved each individual storyline and the overall theme of the story is very heart warming. These characters challenge you to truly take a deeper look at your life and cherish your loved ones.

The Celebrants is definitely as billed. It truly is the Gen X’s version of the “Big Chill”.
This book focuses on a group of college friends from Berkley. They make a pact to hold each others funerals while they are still alive. The premise behind this intriguing idea is that they lost one of their college friends and felt they never shared with him how they felt. By holding a living funeral you get to share your feelings while the person is still alive. The trigger to holding the funeral is usually when one of the characters is experiencing a crisis. The important part here is that family doesn’t have to be blood. These college friends became a family. The concept of the book truly focuses on friendship and mortality.

This book is my first from this author. It is extremely well thought out and well written. The characters are unique, caring, deep and loyal. The characters make this unique novel deeply moving and at times, somewhat humorous. I will be looking for other books by this author.

I would like to thank Putnam Group Penguin, Steven Rowley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Rowley's books have always been hit or miss for me - I was absolutely obsessed with The Guncle, but The Editor didn't wow me in the same way it did others. When I heard the synopsis for The Celebrants, I was incredibly excited to check it out, however, this one ultimately fell the way of The Editor for me. I didn't quite connect with the story and the character's friendship the way I had hoped. I hope Rowley's next book will be more along the lines of The Guncle for me!

Thank you to Putnam for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley focuses on college friends who meet up periodically to keep the pledge they made when one of their group died at the end of college. I enjoyed this book but kept wishing that each section had a bit more depth to it. It is hard to give the needed depth to help us care about the characters when each of their story time is equal and just stays somewhat surface.
All in all a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Celebrants is available now.

I will never understand how Steven Rowley can so expertly write novel after novel that makes me laugh out loud AND cry in public. I've already adopted the phrase "Always a pallbearer, never a corpse" into my vernacular, to my friends and family's delight (and by delight, I mean polite laughter.) I love the way he writes amazing banter yet brings in little details that make every character feel like a real person you (could) know. Not only is the humor is top notch but he has this knack for hitting you in the feelings with just the right amount of force so that you're emotionally devistated and ravenous for his next book.

In The Guncle, Rowley's voice really shined through when portraying Patrick's snarky but hilarious personality, a loud personality who was still very much mired in grief. In this new book, Rowley's skillful writing is undeniable, but the tone is much more somber overall. The premise is fascinating, and I was eager to get to know each of the individuals in this ensemble. After Alec's death, each person's accomplishments are challenges are unique, and their character development is evident. However, because every time the group gets together, it is in the midst of a difficult circumstance, the story lacks a strong foundational backstory of the friendship that was forged during their years at Berkeley that is continuing to bring them back together. Marissa comes off as needy and insecure, while Naomi seems abrasive and unhinged.

I really enjoyed the moments of tenderness that were sprinkled into the text, and there were many laugh-out-loud comedic moments as well. Humor is the area in which Rowley really seems to shine. Although it took an inordinately long time for me to get acquainted with the characters, I did feel like I knew them intimately by the end of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Guncle but The Celebrants takes some patience and effort to appreciate. The premise is quite clever. Steven Rowley is a brilliant writer with an astounding ability to craft a beautiful novel. However, the characters in this story are particularly difficult to like. Initially, they're crass and self-absorbed. For most of the novel, I didn't understand why they cared about one another, But in the final chapters, it all starts to make more sense. I enjoyed the themes of friendship, found family, and appreciating the value of a life well lived. Even though I sort of anticipated the ending, it was more beautiful than I expected.

When I got this ARC, I squealed with delight. I love Stephen Rowley. I wanted to slowly read this one and devour it like a mug of cocoa. I couldn't. I got wrapped up in the lives of these 5 and didn't want it to end. I loved the secrets. I loved the pact. The whole idea of it was lovely. I wish that I had the opportunity to tell my loved ones how much they meant to me and how they impacted me as a person before they left us. It helped me with the grief that I still experience from losing someone very suddenly. I loved this story so much and could definitely see it becoming a movie, but if that happens....NOTHING needs to change about it, because it is perfection.

This book has a real "Big Chill" feel to it and that's only one thing that I loved about it. After the sudden death of a friend, the five remaining friends make a pact to have "living funerals" for each other, as needed, to remind each of them how important they are to each other and lift them when the need arises. I loved "The Guncle" and this made me feel just as good. I'll recommend it highly to my fellow readers.

I have read and loved several books by Steven Rowley, and I was so excited to be able to read his latest!
In this new work, he immediately draws readers into the lives of five friends from college who have lost touch over the years, but have come together for the important moments in each others lives.
I loved these people, and wanted to spend more time with them! Rowley is so good at writing about complex emotions in a genuine way! I laughed aloud and cried a couple times as I devoured this book, and I will be thinking about these characters for a while yet to come. Can't wait to recommend this to readers!!

Steven Rowley has such a unique way of making you laugh cry with his writing. The Guncle is one of my all time favorite books so I knew going into the Celebrants that I would be in for a great storyline with strong characters.

I adored reading about this chaotic group of friends and their ups and downs. The concept for this book was so original that I was really interested in what direction it would take and how it would end. I was surprised multiple times with the direction the storyline took.

I found myself connecting to some of the characters more than others and ultimately I found that although the story pacing was on slower end, it was still a wonderful read.

Thank you Net Galley and PRH for the ARC.

Quick and Dirty⁣
-favorite book of the year (so far)⁣
-deeply profound friendships⁣
-a book about life⁣
-LGBTQIA representation⁣
-not the Guncle⁣
⁣
Thoughts⁣
If you follow my stories, you probably realize I swallowed my pride and bought a copy with this hideous sticker because I NEEDED TO OWN A COPY OF THIS BOOK NOW!!!! This one hit me like a ton of bricks. I was expecting The Guncle, Part 2, which this is not. Sure, it has Rowley's wit and warmth, but the story of this lifelong group of friends is powerful. Every single character is relatable. Every single interaction is packed with meaning. I saw my friendships reflected in these characters, the good, the bad, and the deeply ugly. I felt seen reading this, which is what a really great book should do. The grief journey Rowley maps out for his readers is the one I want to go on if the road must be traveled. A celebration of all things: who we were, who we are, and who we have yet to be. Is the premise a little morbid? Maybe. But death is life, and to pretend otherwise is meaningless. Rowley's characters show us how to live an honest and raw life, and it's simply breathtaking. ⁣I truly cannot say enough about this wonderful book that I hope everyone reads!

Steven Rowley is such a great storyteller when it comes to difficult topics. This book probably won't be for every reader, and that's okay, but I still highly recommend everyone read this book.
I'm knee-deep in my own grieving season. My most recent loss was my cousin, whom I hadn't seen in 3.5 years. Life choices and differences of opinion over those choices kept us apart. Two weeks ago, I got that dreaded notification of her passing. Her funeral was this past Friday. She was young, mother of six, had her whole life to live, but was gone in an instant. So, so many things left unsaid, so many I love you's, etc.
All that to say, while the funeral pact for this group of friends may seem absurd to most people, it also doesn't seem that strange to me. Life circumstances, finances, geographics, etc, may not make it feasible for most people, but I think it's something that more people should absolutely think about doing. Tell your spouses, family, & friends, just what they mean to you before it's too late.
Thank you, Netgalley, for this e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

First thank you to Putnam books, author Steven Rowley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Celebrants in an exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: this is the story of 5 friends that make a pact at their college friend funeral to celebrate each other whenever they need it one time only. Four of the friends invoke the pact which brings the friends even closer.

What I liked: Steven Rowley knows how to go directly to my heart. His characters are so well developed and have such heart. I love the idea of living funerals and want to figure out how to convince my friends to enter into this pact. I related the most to Naomi and laughed out loud at her funeral. I loved how the story’s timeline made you fully bond with the characters before the end of the story. Really adds to that emotional ending that the author is known for.

Highly recommend this book to everyone but especially fans of contemporary fiction and found family troupe. Mr Rowley you did it again and know I will be back again for your next book. Thank you.

After tragedy strikes, five college friends make a pact that at any point in their lives they can call upon each other to come together for a "funeral" celebration. Over the years they each enact the pact and come together in Big Sur to lift each other up and remind each other what they have. Why not tell those you love what makes them special while they're alive?!

This is a sweet read about friendship, aging, and the ups and downs of life.

TW: Cancer

“…endings are also beginnings…opportunities for a new life.”

In THE CELEBRANTS, after the premature loss of one of their own, a group of friends starts a pact to hold “living funerals” for each other, to celebrate their present life. Initiated at various moments in each of their lives, these living wakes give the ensemble cast chances to learn, grow, and heal together.

Steven Rowley writes a really beautiful and resonant story. While I didn’t love THE CELEBRANTS quite as much as THE GUNCLE, I really appreciate the author’s ability to weave a meaningful story and craft rich characters. There were so many poignant (and naturally funny) moments that I want to pause to soak in. This story really has some significant “makes you think about life and what’s important” moments. It was an enjoyable read and a captivating concept!

Thank you to Putnam and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. THE CELEBRANTS is out now!

Following the death of their close friend, five college friends make a pact to hold living funerals for themselves in the future. The pact is 'evoked' by someone who needs be reminded of how much they're loved and is a chance for the friends to say things they don't want left unsaid. The book follows the friends during different periods of their lives and the events that caused each to call for their funerals.

I've seen The Celebrants described as "a Big Chill for our times" and this is EXACTLY how I would describe it. I was getting all of those 80s movie vibes about friendships over time and how life changes as we become adults. I loved The Guncle and The Celebrants was another five star read for me from this author. This book has all the feels - I laughed and cried. The characters were great and each brought varying levels of humor, sass, caring, and compassion. The Celebrants is a great reminder to tell the living how we feel today, because the future can change in an instant.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnam for my digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Obviously I loved it! I went out on pub day and bought a copy for my shelf! The Guncle was my favorite book of 2021 so this was a much anticipated release!
Steven Rowley brings us on a journey of 5 college friends who make a lifelong pact right after graduation. Whenever one of the them is at their lowest and needs saving, they invoke the pact to have a “funeral” so the person in crises can hear and know how much they are loved.
The circumstances that make them invoke their funerals are messy but they are also real life relatable. I loved seeing how these friendships that span 3 decades, changed and evolved along the way. This book was funny, sentimental, witty, emotional, and packed with drama and 90’s references.
It totally made me think of my college friends and how we are going on 20+ years of friendship. I love how we can see each other once or twice a year but still pick up right where we left off!
Highly recommend this one for your summer reading pile!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Steven Rowley - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Six friends meet as transfer students to Berkley and form a tight bond. When one of the group dies before graduation, the rest make a pact - they can each summon the group together whenever they need it to have a "living funeral." That way nothing will be left unsaid and they can know their worth to the group.

This is a wonderful story about friendship, especially those old friends who knew us and loved us when we were not fully formed, who have grown with us even as we grow apart. I love the idea of making sure nothing is left unsaid, no matter how hard that may be. All of these characters were wonderful and Rowley brings them to life with his trademark humor and emotion. Another great read from this author!