I really wanted to love this because The Guncle is one of my all time favs. Its a book i recommend to everyone. This one just didnt do it for me. I didnt feel super invested in any of the characters and felt it dragged in parts.

This book felt to gimmicky for me. I had a hard time believing that 50 year olds were getting together to have living funerals for their friends. It might have seemed like a good idea in their 20's but to continue it felt adolescent. I also had a hard time liking any of the characters. Overall, it was cringey.

Did I know The Celebrants was going to make me cry? Of course. Was I out-of-my-mind excited to read it anyways? You bet I was.

Steven Rowley has such a compelling way of exploring grief. I loved it in The Guncle, and I loved it just as much in The Celebrants. He shows us that there can be humor even in times of sadness--something my family knows well.

All of these characters were flawed and yet lovable in such a relatable way. There is certainly something to be said for a group of lifelong friends that can come together and pick up right where they left off, that you know will be there for you no matter what. Everyone needs a friend group like the characters in this book!

I don't need to say much more--if you loved The Guncle, you're going to love The Celebrants. If you haven't read either, change that asap.

4.5 stars

Right before graduating from Berkley, one member of a tightly-knit band of six dies. At his funeral, the remaining five friends form a pact - each of them can request a "living funeral," where they'll be told how much they're loved and what an impact they've had on the others while they're still here to hear it.

I loved the quirky family-owned Big Sur cabin, as it became a character in the book. I loved the flawed characters. And I loved that even in a book rife with themes of death and loss, Steven Rowley could still make me laugh out loud (like he did in The Guncle).

Being roughly the same age as the characters, I got a sense of nostalgia reading about their endeavors and living near Big Sur, I got a sense of space and time others who aren't familiar with the area might not. Having lost several close loved ones recently, books about death are pretty touchy for me, but I was able to embrace this premise of celebrating while we're here and honoring those we can while we can.

3.5/5 stars rounded up. This is my second Steven Rowley novel. The Guncle was a highlight for me in 2021. That book is equal parts love and laughter. The Celebrants, while not as light and airy, delivers on powerful message and ultimate power of friendship.

The story centers around a group of college besties who while mourning one of their 6, make a pact that they will hold “living” funerals for each other so that when they do die they will do so knowing how others felt about them. This is such a great concept. I’ve always thought it would be nice if the person being celebrated at a funeral could actually hear how people felt about them. We follow these five friends from their 20s to early 50s as each of them invoke the pact and they all meet up for these “funerals.”

While the idea is interesting and their reasons for needing their “funerals” are compelling, I personally found the characters a little off-putting. Had I really fallen in love with the them, this would have been a 5 star read. For the majority of the book they weren’t very nice to each other and argued like toddlers.

The final funeral finally drives home the point of the novel and Rowley delivers a very emotional and fulfilling ending.

Thank you PRHAudio and GP Putnam for the ALC/ARC.

After loving Steven Rowley’s previous book, The Guncle, I was very much looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it just did not do it for me. I listened to about 20% before giving up; I just could not get into this storyline and quite frankly didn’t like the characters. With The Guncle, the main character was hilarious and relatable; in this book not so much.

I am only leaving feedback due to NetGalley’s requirement. DNF at 20%.

⁉️What’s your idea of a summer read?
I know some do lots of thrillers, others beach reads, a friend told me this week that she ramps up on celeb memoirs this time of year. Tbh, my reading used to change for summer, but I think it’s really just a mess of genres like the rest of the year now.

BOOK REVIEW
The Celebrants by @mrstevenrowley
Pub date: May 30, 2023
320 pages
@putnambooks @netgalley thanks for the E-ARC

The Guncle, by the same author, was a top three read of 2021 for me and remains a go to recommendation when anyone asks for one. The Celebrants is a totally different book, IMO, and shows Rowley’s range as an author.

Found family is a favorite trope of mine, at least in part, because I’m perpetually on the search for my own 🥴 in The Celebrants, we meet a handful of people in midlife who became close friends when they lived together in college. When one of them dies in their early twenties, the others make a pact to each have a living funeral dialing in the others at a time in their lives that calls for rebuilding.

The story starts saying goodbye to one of the friends, and we’re saying goodbye to the rest (in different ways) throughout. It sounds a little heavier than it felt reading it. I think Rowley really captured the bittersweetness of nostalgia for your younger days. They all are sort of unhinged at times, channeling their youth in ways you might not expect of people in middle age (an ouija board and psychedelics both make an appearance). Though, as someone in their late thirties, I could absolutely relate to wanting to get into some mischief. When you’re young this age feels very old, but now that I’m here it feels pretty young? 🥴😅

I’d have been more sold on the friendships and commitment to the pact had they all spent more time together in the decades between college and each of their funerals, but overall I liked this one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#thecelebrants #stevenrowley #booksilove #bookstagram #booksinstagram #booksiread #maybooks #netgalley #bookreview #bookblog #goodbooks #midlife #foundfamily #bookrecommendations #newbookstagram #fourstars #earc #ereading #kindle #paperbacks

Steven Rowley sure knows how to write a book that is both funny and emotionally damaging, and I knew from just the first few pages it was going to be a doozy (in the best of ways). This one has a little bit of a slow burn start, but then gets right into the action. The story goes back and forth between present day and the “living funerals” that have already taken place. I loved getting to know the characters through this type of timelines and seeing them change over the course of the book and the things they go through together. The banter between the five of them was fantastic, and I loved how it could go from funny sarcasm, to frustration, to sweetness all in the span of a couple pages. This was a fun and touching story of how friendship can endure decades, and the power of leaning on the people who have known you most of your life.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader's copy of this book.

The Celebrants is a beautiful story of lifelong friendship. Five friends spend decades gradually discovering what it means to live life to the fullest through the bond they made in college and the pact that keeps their connection going. This is a tale of grief, secrets, betrayal, love, and a found family that comes apart and back together over time. Rowley's previous novel The Guncle was a big hit, but I thought it was just ok. This one was much more memorable for me and the characters more compelling. Any book that makes me cry by the end is a winner.

Following a group of friends over many years, this book provides a glimpse into the human experience and relatable, rarely talked about topics like grief, death and having a front row seat to it all. When this group experiences a death in the early stages of their adulthood, they make a pact to throw & attend funerals for each other while they’re still alive to enjoy it. Glimpsing into each of their funerals gives us a snippet of their lives and relationships to each other. I appreciated the format and themes of this book, but found some of the relationships unbelievable. I wish we got more interactions to the characters. The secondary and tertiary plots were incredible! Definitely recommend for litfic & prose nerds, or those who need a good “I need something different” book.

A group of seven college friends decide that instead of waiting for each other to die to gather at a funeral, that they would have "living" funerals for one another where they meet up, and hang out, share a eulogy, and say all the good things about that one specific friend.

This doesn't have the humor and fun of The Guncle, but takes a more serious look at the hardships of life. I loved the relationship that these friends had over the years as they would bond with one another as life tragedy strikes. I never felt really connected to any of the characters and actually felt a disconnect with the reality of life and their lives...it was almost like friendship was more important than family. Not to say friends can't be really great and hugely important but it was almost like they mattered more than anyone else. I'm sure it was just the spin the book took.

Being my third book that Rowley has written I think I have a feel for his writing. He often gives a sense of somberness and solidarity.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advance e-copy of this book.

I was so excited to read the ARC of The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. I adored his last book, The Guncle, and was looking forward to more of Rowley’s signature humor and heart.

After the sudden death of a friend way too young, a group of college friends convene for his funeral and make a pact not to leave anything unsaid or any of them wondering what they meant to each other. Reuniting over the years to throw each other “living funerals,” the pact keeps the friends tethered to each other, even when separated by time and distance. This heartwarming story of a group of college friends who honor each other by expressing what they mean to each other when they most need it shows us how our closest friends can be a lifeline in the wake of personal tragedy, abandonment, loss of freedom, or even a life-threatening disease.

A modern-day Big Chill, The Celebrants is a soul-wrenching read that will make you laugh and cry. Sometimes at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book and am a Steven Rowley fan for life.

Thank you to @netgalley @penguinputnam and @stevenrowley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. #TheCelebrants #NetGalley #StevenRowley

A moving story of a group of close-knit college friends who lose one of their own on the eve of graduation. In response to their grief, they make a pact to hold funerals for each other while they're all still alive so that they can each know how loved they are. Over the years, as each member of the group faces a turning point in their life, the friends come together to honor and pay tribute to the friend in crisis. The funeral sections are interspersed with the present storyline of married couple Jordan and Jordy, as Jordan faces a terminal cancer diagnosis. This book really grew on me as I read it. There are moments that made me laugh out loud and moments that made me cry, a combination Rowley is adept at. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam / G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital review copy.

This is the story of 5 college friends who face the death of another friend and then form a pact to get together for each others funerals while they are still alive. Sounds weird and depressing but they are actually helping each other out and reminding each other they are loved. It’s full of quirky characters that feel real. Some of Rowley’s humor seeps through, but more of his wisdom. These are the kinds of friends you want to have for life.

You know those books that reach out and grab ahold of you and you keep thinking about long after they are gone? This is one of those books. It is full of characters that have issues, you know just like real life: People get divorced, and lose their parents and even get sick. Yet the journey those all these events makes the story worthwhile. Read this book, it is going to be a crowd-pleaser!

I adored Steven Rowley’s latest! What an interesting and unique premise of having a group of friends gather to have their funerals while they are living so that they can always know how much they are loved when they really need to hear it. I loved the aspect that they could invoke it when they needed it, when they were at a low. I loved the group of friends together and the idea that they kept getting back together years later after they graduated from college.

This book has Rowley’s wit, humor, insight and love. I truly enjoyed the story and would highly recommend it, especially if you’re going through a tough time and want some perspective.

This book felt like a great big hug. I loved the friendship aspect of this one. All 5 of the friends were so different but that’s what made them work so well together. This book touched on so many important top is but the most important was how vital it is to have good people in your corner. People that will show up unexpectedly when you need them. And be there for you no matter what. I loved this one!

I love Mr. Rowley’s writing but this one didn’t hit the same for me as The Gunkle. I mean i really wanted to like all the characters but aren’t people ever honest with each other in friendships?! Why do you hide so much of yourself from those you say you are closest to?

I tried really hard to enjoy this book. But I just couldn't find any likeability for the characters. They are flawed and filled with drama. Plus sadness. This book was not my cup of tea. It makes me sad because I loved the guncle.

Another winner from Steven Rowley! This was one of my most anticipated titles of the year and it lived up to my highest expectations. I loved the characters, the friendships, and, as always, Steven's trademark combination of wisdom, warmth, humor, and heart. I teared up multiple times and laughed on almost every page. This is a fast-paced book that will have wide appeal. Add in its great cover, title, and its oh-so-lovable author and this is going to fly off our shelves this summer.