This was a funny heartwarming book. I loved the Guncle so I knew I needed Steven Rowley's newest book. This is a story of college friends who meet throughout the years to have living funerals. They don't want to leave anything unsaid. I laughed and I cried. Such a great emotional book. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Steven Rowley has done it again! His book The Guncle was an easy 5 stars for me last year, and this one had so much of the same wit and hilarious charm. Also the characters have a morbid sense of humor, which I can really rate to this year. I absolutely loved this one for very personal reasons I’ll talk in more detail about below.

To get into this, I’m going to talk about my experience with losing my mom earlier this year. I feel like I’ve talked about it a fair amount on here already, but sometimes I don’t know how to not talk about it. I’m not one to pretend like it didn’t happen.

After my mom’s funeral, I invited some close friends to come back to my house. At some point in the night I told my friends we all needed to have a funeral party. I told them we needed to spend one evening getting drunk, writing our own obituaries, and making our final wishes known (wouldn’t you like your friends’ opinions on your obituary photo options - “do I look good here? Is this photo too sad?”). When planning everything for my mom, I was stumped on picking out her obituary photo. I ended up picking one that I really liked - but what if she didn’t like it? What if she hated it? I had no idea and had no way of asking her.

This book is not exactly the same sentiment as what I wanted to do, but it’s in the ballpark and I really related to it. I think we all need to have more candid conversations about death, and I feel like it’s less awkward to do if it’s not looming over you. Make your plans (and write them down!!) and make them known before they are needed.

Back to the book - I just really loved it. Steven Rowley has such a way with words, and his dialogue is hilarious and witty in such a way I want these people to be my friends in real life. The content itself is raw and heartwarming, but also might make you cry (I did!).

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book is another hit from Steven Rowley. Like the Guncle it is fun and light moments m, but touches also on really deep hard things. I love the wit, banter and humor that run through the story. The chargers were all so different, but it was interesting to watch them grown and mature as the years passed. I loved this book and would recommend it to any fiction reader.

Great novel about reconnecting with old friends. I’m very excited to add this to my library when physical copies are available

What a delight. Steven Rowley can tug at heartstrings like very few others and this book dealt with some themes that have been on my mind lately - loss, getting older, connection with others. Loved it.

“A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselves—by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.” After a friend’s sudden death, five college friends agree to meet for a living funeral whenever each needs help. As decades pass, life changes cause several of them to enact the pact, gathering their group for support.

I’m excited to see Read With Jenna picked this decades-spanning story of a found family for June. Rowley remains the reigning king of irreverent grief, and I love him for it. I didn’t connect with all the characters here, as the big jumps in age and POV were hard to follow. I also had trouble with two characters, both named Jordan! It was cute that everyone referred to them as “The Jordans,” and one went by the nickname Jordy, but I still had difficulty keeping them straight (no pun intended, but hah!).

As always, the writing is full of heart and humor. I like the people that live in Rowley’s stories.

Thanks, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the Digital Review Copy.

The Guncle was one of my favorite reads of the year last year, so I was so excited to dive into The Celebrants, the newest novel from Steven Rowley. This is a beautifully written story with amazing characters, but let me tell you, there are some tough topics covered in this book.

Rowley has the most amazing ability to build characters and in this book a friend group that you feel like you know them in real life. Each character in this book was layered and flawed and so real. The characters were so real that at times I had to take a break from this one because the topics were do difficult it hurt my heart for these characters.

This one made me cry and laugh and just fall even more in love with Rowley's writing style. He also narrates the audio look like he did for the Guncle and he is stellar.

I would highly recommend this one with the caveat that you should look at the CW and see if it is something you can handle. I had to take a break and come back to it when I was more able to read about some of these topics.

Thank you to the publisher and PRHA for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

"The Celebrants" is a heartwarming and sometimes hilarious novel that celebrates life, love, and loss. Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle, college friends who reunite for mock "funerals" in Big Sur, form the core of the story. Rowley's writing is both funny and poignant, evoking a range of emotions. The characters are complex and relatable, and their friendships sustain them through life's challenges. "The Celebrants" captures the essence of love and the power of friendship, offering laughter, tears, and contemplation. A perfect choice for those seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally rich read.

This took me a bit to get into - learning the characters and keeping track of the POV was difficult to keep track of for the first half. In addition, I just really dislike long chapters. I understand WHY it was set up the way it was, but the chapters and chunks of reading just felt endless.

Thank being said, I really enjoyed the story and the way it handled friendships and grief. Found family is always a trope that I love more than I think I will initially. The dynamics of the friend group and their funeral pact was really unique and I just love Steven Rowley’s wit and charm.

This was a very heartwarming story that spans a decades long friendship through their ups and downs. I enjoyed getting to know each character and their dynamics within the group.

The idea of living funerals and message of living life for today really hit home and I think will definitely resonate with a lot of readers.

I do wish some of the timelines had been explored just a little bit more to give more depth to some of the characters.

Overall I would recommend this book especially to those who have been fans of Rowley's previous works.

What an absolute beautiful story about so many different aspects of life. Steven Rowley absolutely hits it out of the park with this one. He deals with the subject of death in the most beautiful of ways and makes it truly about the life well lived and not the life lost.

I loved this one so much. Rowley takes us on a journey of love and friendship with that feels so intimate and special. The whole idea of celebrating your friends and family while they’re here with you is so beautiful. This group of college friends is messy and complicated but in the end rooted in love. This is a great book and a must read.

THIS. This is how you do character-led stories. Steven Rowley paints a vivid (non-forged!) painting of six unique friends, as they come together in college, and how they grow apart and back together over their lives, reconvening at the worst times of their lives. Throwing a living funeral for each member, with their central goal to leave nothing left unsaid, is one of the biggest acts of love they can give to each other, and it’s beautiful to watch play out. Rowley nails the intricacies of a college friend group and their bonds and how those bonds change throughout their lives, as well the parts that stay the same, and the inside jokes that manage to turn into life long memories. It had me laughing out loud, physically cover my mouth to gasp, and tearing up on their behalf.

The Celebrant struck in me in deeply personal ways, I will cherish this story dearly for many years to come.

“…they banded together with a promise to throw one another living funerals so that none of them would ever be left to wonder what impact they’d had on the others. Their mission: leave nothing left unsaid.”

It is a sad truth of funerals that the people who die don’t get to hear what is being said of them. And so the premise of the book really is a fantastic idea. Throw funerals for the living so that the living can fully understand their impact on other lives.

The book follows the lives of college friends for about 30 years post graduation. They all have their struggles and the funerals serve as reunions and also to bring forth realizations and help them find inner strength to grow and seize their day. The most poignant is that of the “Jordans”. Even as he faces his mortality, Jordan uses his time to ensure Jordy will be ok. The breaking out of Alcatraz analogy and finding strength to break free of grief particularly touched my heart.

The author does a good job of injecting humor and sarcasm while maintaining a more serious story. And really shows the important role good friends play in your life. What a gift to have friends such as these!

“To think about life is to contemplate death—it’s what makes living so valuable.”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Unfortunately I didn’t finish this one. The premise was good but I didn’t know how sad it was going to be. I might come back and finish it later, but it was too sad for me right now. The characters were charming though! I just wanted something lighter, like his precious books. I will update this review if I finish later.

I was super excited about this one, because I loved The Guncle. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. I found it to be a bit chaotic, very depressing, and not very funny. I thought the boat/mushroom scene was very amusing. But this one lacked the humor to balance the heavy topics in this book. I also didn’t feel the connection to Alec, he is what started this whole thing and I feel like we learned very little about him. I was a bit annoyed by the Mia, Craig, & Marielle situation. I loved the idea of their pact, but these supposed friends didn’t really seem to be close anymore. I think this book had a lot of potential, and don’t get me wrong I 100% got choked up at the end.

Only Steven Rowley can write a book that makes me laugh and cry at the same time and write books about loss and grief that I willingly want to read. He will always be an auto-read author for me. By the end of the book, I fell in love with every single character (the 5 remaining friends) and was sad to part with them. Though the ending was absolutely perfect, I read the last page through tears. Admittedly, I did struggle with the first chapter set in present time and combined with the third person omniscient POV style. The history between each character was missing and it felt like I couldn't keep them straight or see why they were even friends in the first place. Once we were taken back to the past as each "funeral" was revealed and how the current one came to be, everything fell into place. If you find yourself feeling the same in the beginning, just push through for the reward is there. This is one of those books where you should focus your full attention.

I will never pass up a Steven Rowley book. He writes with such a charming voice - believably funny and flawed characters, heartfelt and poignant themes, and a real knack for connecting you to the story. This story of friendship and it’s importance throughout life, through the ups and downs, will really hit home for many. It’s a rare book that can make me both laugh and cry, and Steven Rowley has done it three times now. Can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.

This beautiful story about friendship and regrets is full of heart.

I loved reading about Marielle, Naomi, Craig, Jordy, and Jordan and their decades-long connections. This is literary fiction at its best.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Title: The Celebrants
Author: Steven Rowley
Genre: Fiction
Month Read: April 2023
Book Type: E-Arc
Publication: May 2023
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 320
Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam/G. P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me this E-Arc. It in no way influences my review on this work in any way, shape, or form.

TRIGGER WARNING-
Death / Suicide / Cancer / HIV


"To live in the present, to live for yourself, and that we were never as alone as we thought.”




No Spoiler Summary (Goodreads):
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.

A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, coupled with Steven Rowley’s signature humor and heart, The Celebrants is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living.




Review:
I am obsessed with The Guncle- truly, it is one of my all time favorite books. I haven't read anything else Steven Rowley has written (which will be changing June of 2023!) and I was looking forward to The Celebrants and SO stoked when I got a copy of it on Netgalley, as it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023.

Welp. I am sad to say that this book fell really flat for me. I was expecting the wit, the humor, and also the devastation that The Guncle gave me, and sadly this book didn't have much of it. In the past few weeks when people have asked me how I liked The Celebrants my answer could be summed up with, I'm glad I read it but ultimately I won't remember much about it 6 months from now, and it won't stick with me. I didn't hate the book, I didn't love the book, it's the most solid of 3 stars for me. It was a book, I read it, time to move on.

Jess, why didn't you like it? I never connected to a single character, I felt like (for once) this book could have been longer) because a lot of it just never felt fully fleshed out to me. I never felt anything, and I feel like you need to for a book that's mourning every character in real time. I didn't dislike the book, but for me I wanted the connection I've had to Steven's other characters. I really wish I had more to say about it, but overall I just felt really underwhelmed. It happens! If you have a copy, I recommend giving it a go, but I wouldn't rush out to read it if you have other things you've been waiting for on your shelves.

This book had the same warm fuzzy feels as The Guncle! I usually have trouble or don’t prefer following multiple characters while I’m reading, but I fell in love with each and every friend in this book and how their individual stories and pasts shaped the book. I love when friends become our adopted family and that’s exactly what the friends in this book were to each other! I shed a few more tears than I did when I read The Guncle, but the subject matter was a tad bit more heavier! I’d totally recommend this one!