The Guncle was one of my most beloved reads last year, so I was thrilled beyond measure to have the opportunity to review the latest novel ahead of publication. The Celebrants is sort of a modern spin on The Big Chill. Following the untimely death of a friend when they’re young, a group of friends come found family decide to get together through thick and thin to celebrate each others lives through the format of a living wake. Over the years the thick and thin takes the shape of breakups, heartbreak, cancer, art heists and more. The motley characters are all thoughtfully developed and you’re pulling for each of them! Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam/G. P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC.

It pains me to leave this review. Because I was super excited for this and loved his previous book, The Guncle.

Immediately, I got Jordan and Jordy confused. But that’s on me. I am never good with names and characters. And as we got to know everyone in the group, I found myself struggling to keep track of the plot and who is who.

Around 20% I was bored. I’m sorry!!!! But I was. It seemed like a lot of storytelling, and it didn’t really let up. I didn’t connect with any of the characters or feel a special bond with anyone. I expected some dark humor given what the story is about. I was hoping for a few laughs? Maybe I was holding this too close to The Guncle, thinking the same styles and dialogue would be similar. It wasn’t. I didn’t cry either. Granted it takes a lot from me, I truly thought I would have used up all the tissues in the house because of this one.

But! I do think you should give this a read. You might enjoy it and love it more than I did. I will still read everything he writes regardless.

The Celebrants

4.5 ⭐️

In perfect Steven Rowley fashion, this book hits all the feels. I both laughed out loud and cried through it.

Five friends make a pact after their close friend dies to celebrate their funerals before death so they know how much they are loved. Each chapter centers around one of their lives as they lean on each other over the years.

This book was so so good. It has real characters with such emotion. Be sure to check this book out when it publishes later this month!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC.

I know I’m late for Library Reads nomination but The Celebrants is a winner that I will be recommending just as often as The Gruncle also by Steven Rowley. Real life wrapped humor - sure to be an excellent book club book and simply a life affirming hopeful read.

Another solid read by Steven Rowley! I absolutely loved The Guncle and knew it'd be nearly impossible for a book to top that, but this one had a lot to love too. I enjoyed following this group of friends and learning about how they handled struggles throughout their lives. The dialogue was hilarious and well written. I loved the antics they all got into but the book is also very emotional and pulls on the heartstrings. I do wish there'd been a bit more development in the very beginning of the characters because it took me a bit to understand each individual character (and I got a tad confused on Jordy vs. Jordan throughout), but ultimately, I really enjoyed this one!

This book releases on May 30th! Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for the gifted e-Arc. :)

A wonderful and heartfelt look at friendship, growing up and learning who your friends really are.

Each year a group of college friends gather to throw a funeral for one of them. The purpose of the funeral is so that the person being eulogized will understand just how much they are loved and what they mean to everyone. These friends have always been there for each other through the years as they each face different challenges. This year will be different as one of them has something to share that will rock their world.

Funny, sad, messy, it is a glorious look at friendship and the families we make.

I read and enjoyed the delightful book "The Guncle", by Steven Rowley, and when I saw this book, "The Celebrants", by the same author, I grabbed it without a second thought! Though very different from "The Guncle", "The Celebrants" was also heartwarming and moving.

The backstory... In the 1990s, a group of six students at Berkley bonded as a friends group. They were shocked when one of their own died just 2 weeks before their graduation. After his death, they reminisced together and wondered if Alec had known how much they loved him, and they created a pact with each other than whenever any of the remaining five called on the group, the others would immediately gather for a "live" funeral, in which they would come together and celebrate and uplift the friend in crisis,

When the book begins, the celebrants have all reunited to support and celebrate Jordan, but he knows something that they don't know... His cancer has returned, and this is the last time the five of them will be together. From this point, the book jumps back and forth from the present moment- at Jordan's "funeral"- to earlier moments when the other friends reached out from their own crises. Despite the serious subject matter, "The Celebrants" still manages to end on a beautiful, hopeful note. A lovely read.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.
#TheCelebrants

Steven Rowley is one of my favorite authors so when I saw this on NetGalley, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. I’m really torn as to whether I liked this or loved this. It took a little bit for me to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked.
College friends Jordan, Jordy, Craig, Marielle, and Naomi gather shortly before graduation for the funeral of their friend Alec. Marielle decides funerals should happen before someone dies so they can actually know what an impact they made on their friends and family during their life, so the 5 remaining make a pact that whenever one of them is feeling down, they’ll call everyone else together for a living funeral. The group meets every few years from 2013-2023 to support one of them each time. While the premise sounds morbid, this is actually a book about living, as opposed to dying.
In true Steven Rowley fashion this book is completely different than any other he’s written. Instead of focusing on one person, he has written from 5 people’s point of view. Each friend has a completely different experience both with their crisis and their funeral.
I loved all of the characters and I loved how even while dealing with the heavy topics of overdose, cancer, and loss of parents, there is so much lightness sprinkled throughout. I think the theme of living for today is one that most people need.
This is most definitely not my favorite book by Mr. Rowley, but it’s still worthy of being read. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced copy of this. This hits the shelves on May 30th.

Wow, this book! I loved The Guncle and was so excited to read another of Steven Rowley’s books. It did not disappoint! I laughed, cried, and felt every emotion in between. Filled with wit and charm, this is an absolute must-read for 2023.



The Celebrants takes place over the course of nearly 30 years, seeing how a group’s friendship evolves over time. They meet and bond after transferring to Berkeley: Jordy, the swimmer; Jordan, the quiet and studious; Craig, the artist; Marielle, the rising political star; Naomi, the passionate future music business exec; and Alec, the lovable yet reckless life of the party. After the untimely and surprising death of Alec in their final years of school, they create a pact to never leave anything unsaid. They host funerals for the living to celebrate their lives, during the ups and downs of life. Over time, you see how they evolve, love, lose their loved ones, grapple with uncertainty, and cope with life’s curveballs.



This heartwarming book seamlessly depicts imperfect characters in a charming and endearing way. Each character feels real and lived in. I especially loved the dynamic relationship of Jordy and Jordan throughout- I absolutely fell in love with them as they fell in love and encountered hardships. At the heart of it, this book is about friendship, but also a story of love, loss, remembering, and growing into one’s self throughout adulthood. I cannot recommend this book enough!



Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

The Celebrants
Steven Rowley
Pub Date: May 30, 2023

BRILLIANT! Everything about this book was BRILLIANT! I just adored The Guncle so I went into this book looking for a light read. Fair warning: this is NOT a light read. It is heavy and thought-provoking. But it’s also witty and funny and just perfect!

After one of their college roommates tragically dies, Marielle, Craig, Naomi, Jordan and Jordy (The Jordans) make a pact to throw one another living funerals so that none of them would ever be left to wonder what impact they had on the others. The whole idea was to leave nothing left unsaid and to remain in contact with one another, even as they were set to graduate in a few weeks. Years pass and miles separate the friends, but once The Pact is triggered, these college friends have to face some tough secrets, and lives that were not what they expected in their youth.

I just loved the friendship between the members of The Pact and the post impact they had on one another lives. Despite conflicts, distance, and just life in general, Marielle, Craig, Naomi, Jordan and Jordy always came together to support one another. The Celebrants teaches us so much about friendship and I cannot recommend it enough!

It’s rare that a book can take me from crying to literally laughing out loud (with tears still in my eyes), but The Celebrants did just that. Steven Rowley has such a beautiful writing style and I just adored this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favorite Quotes:
“But I want to tell you something. I learned something today, and I want you to learn it too. We think we have control over everything—we hold on so tight—and the truth is we don’t. We don’t have control at all. Not over the big things.”

“‘I mean you’re the funeral people, right?’ ‘Celebrants,’ Jordan said awkwardly. Funeral people felt cold, and not how you’d like to be thought of.”

“There were lessons to be drawn from each of these images, each of their funerals: to live in the present, to live for yourself, and that we were never as alone as we thought.”

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single one, and the life of that candle will not be shortened. That’s what you do for others. You light their candle with yours.”

Thank you Steven Rowley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and NetGalley for providing me with a gifted copy of The Celebrants.

Posted on Instagram on April 30, 2023 (Currently Reading): http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
Posted on Goodreads on May 5, 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram (full review) on May 30, 2023: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Instagram (mini review) in mid to late May 2023: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on May 30, 2023
**-will post on designated date

After losing their friend at the end of their college years, five friends make a pact to have funerals for each of them why they’re still living. The idea is to leave nothing unsaid and to let each other know how much they mean to each other while they still have the chance.

It kills me to write this because I loved The Guncle so much - one of my favorites of all times, loved - and I was just so excited for this one, but sadly, I didn’t enjoy it. I found the book to be extremely slow and for the entire first half of the book I was considering not finishing it, but I pushed through in hopes it would get better.

I think part of the issue was that we never really got to know any of the characters in depth - they all had clear personalities but we only just scratched the surface with each of them since we had to have time with each person. I also found the time jumps to be a little confusing. I liked going through each funeral but I think the jumps back to college and sometimes to present day was too much.

I loved the concept and the found family aspect, but I just wanted to feel more. More sad, more happy, more attached; just more. The writing was excellent - Rowley’s writing is so smart and witty, I just wish the story itself moved a bit quicker and more cohesively. Despite all that, I will certainly try anything this author puts out in the future!

I haven’t read Rowley’s 2021 release The Guncle, but I know it is a well loved book. Maybe going in knowing that made me overhype this one in my mind when I should’ve managed my expectations like I usually do? Plus the thought of a group of older friends celebrating their funerals while still alive was very macabre and right up my alley. Good concept but the execution, for me, was lacking. Rowley is a great writer but the story itself was just a bit dull and didn’t pack the emotional punch I was looking for. And despite seeing a group of friends progress thirty years, I didn’t feel I really knew the characters or saw their growth. I think the most interesting chapter was Craig’s funeral, surprisingly. The book did have a great underlying message and I think it will still be an enjoyable read for people!

I can’t wait to go back and read The Guncle now and I’m looking forward to Rowley’s future works.

The premise of The Celebrants is a unique one: five friends on the cusp of graduating from college make a pact to throw each other living funerals, to not wait until someone is gone to let them know how loved and impactful they are. Over the years, the friends come back together as one friend then another invokes the pact at difficult life moments, gathering the group to celebrate their lives and help pick them back up. But this time is different: they’ve been summoned because one of them is actually dying.

I was touched by the concept of this book, the poignant notion to leave nothing unsaid. In his signature style of wry tenderness and wit, Steven Rowley delivers a story of lifelong friendship and weathering life’s ups and down. Being just a few years younger than the characters, I could identify with some of their challenges (okay, not the going to prison part, but the death of a parent and other themes) and was tickled by the various pop culture references. My only quibble is that I would have liked more character development. I wanted to connect to them more but I feel like the author barely scratched the surface of how great these characters could have been.

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up on account of Mr. Rowley’s engaging writing style.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me an advance copy of this book.

A group of friends in college make a pact to give each other a living funeral after one of their friends suddenly passes away. So whenever the person see's fit to have their living funeral the pact is called upon and they all meet, no matter how much time has past.

I love the idea of this pact. I totally agree that why do we have to wait til we die to have the big grand funeral. I loved that it showed a friend group that didn't necessarily stay in touch through the 20-30 years since college, but still showed up for each other during their hardest times in life. I enjoyed the book but found myself skimming some of the heavy imagery areas. I am def a reader who prefers dialogue and this didn't rely heavily on it. This book was a lot heavier than the Guncle which was my first Steven Rowley read. I honestly wasn't in the best mindset for this book, but I still enjoyed it overall.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Rowley's voice is so strong--if you like The Guncle, you'll like this too. Both are tackling grief in a heartwarming, but real, way.

I wanted to love this because The Guncle was so phenomenal but I was just kind of bored... I liked the overall idea and the sentiment was there, but I didn't feel super connected to the characters since we only got to see them for small snapshots of time. This was fine, but I won't go out of my way to recommend.

“There were lessons to be drawn from each of these images, each of their funerals: to live in the present, to live for yourself, and that we were never as alone as we thought”.

I will truly read anything that Steven Rowley writes. After being introduced to his writing in Lily & the Octopus - a book that just thinking about it makes me want to start crying and go hug my dogs, I immediately knew this was an author for me! I quickly moved to read his other books - The Editor which was so fun and beautiful, and then my favorite book of 2021, The Guncle.

So, I went into this book with high expectations and of course Rowley did not disappoint. I so enjoyed the relationships between these friends and the realistic-ness (is that a word) of their relationships. These 6 characters - even though we technically don't actually get to meet one of them, but I felt like I did through the stories his friends told and the impact he left on them - stole my heart. They had their ups and downs, their strengths and many flaws and I found myself rooting for each one of them and being excited to see whose story we would dive into next.

The premise of friends making a funeral pact to come together whenever one of them needed it and holding a living funeral is both funny and incredibly beautiful and poignant. This book just reminded me that life is short and that we should take every moment and opportunity to tell everyone in our lives what they mean to us while they are still here.

Thank you, Steven Rowley for every single book you have written - your stories and your characters just touch my heart in a way.

Huge thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Group Putnam for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I can't wait for everyone to read this book!

Steven Rowley does it again! Can this man do anything wrong?

"The Celebrants" is the most touching and thought-provoking book I have read this year. This book will make you appreciate life deeply. I know it opened my eyes to how short life is and how we shouldn't take one moment for granted.

Rowley's latest will pull on your heart stringer just like "The Guncle," yet the vibes are more Schitt's Creek meets The Bucket List. Yeah, I know, weird combo. Don't let that phase you because this book is hands down amazing. The humor is everything. The lessons you learn will punch your feels. The characters will bring you tons of joy.

I am going to keep this one short and sweet because I don't want to spoil the glory that this story is.

I will say that by the time you finish this book, you'll want to throw yourself a funeral. (IFYKYK)

Thank you G. P. Putnam's Sons and Penguin for this book! I am begging you on May 30th, get this book. It is everything.

With a4 star review on GoodReads and NetGalley I am in the minority with my feelings towards this book. I adored The Guncle and requested The Celebrants as soon as I saw it was available. From the beginning I struggled with the scattered conversations, it felt like I was coming into a story that had already started or one that stopped before the ending making it seem like I was always missing something. These "best friends" didn't seem to like each other very much, they seemed to be annoyed with each other or yelling at each other more than they weren't. The friendship felt forced, and born out of a tragedy when they were young and unable to fully process. The last 20% of the book got me emotional and I absolutely had to wipe tears. The friendship I wanted them to have all along was finally present and the ending felt a little redeeming but not enough to make me less let down. I wanted to love it, and really hope others love it more than I did (which seems to be the case). If you're interested by this book and/or have loved Rowley's other books, don't let my review sway you, certainly give it a try!
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Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Celebrants packs the emotional punch, mixed with with humor, that Steven Rowley's novels always do. The characters are all very well-developed and this was an enjoyable read. Highly recommended for fans of The Guncle!