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.

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**Posted on Instagram (full review) on May 30, 2023: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
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**Posted on Amazon on May 30, 2023
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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!

I LOVED The Guncle - it was so perfect! So when I saw The Celebrants I HAD TO READ IT!

The Celebrants is about a group of 5 college friends over the decades. Just before college graduation, the 6th member of their friend group died, and in the wake of that death, they made a pact that in the years to come, any of them could reach out to the group when they needed and make the call for them to gather for a “living funeral” of sorts - basically to get the tributes and support of the group while they were alive. As the book starts, they’re now 50 years old - but how will everything change now that one of them is facing his mortality for real? The book then flashes back and forth between the present day and each of the past funerals they gathered for.

This book was exactly the heartbreaker / heartwarmer I was looking for. It somehow walked the line between chosen family love and slow burn grief, tugging at my heart-strings along the way.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons & Netgalley for allowing me to read this book

I loved the Guncle so much but this one was a miss for me.

The overall story premise was powerful, after a friends death a group of friends promise to reunite every couple of years to have living funerals for each other. It's an interesting look at love, grief, and friendship. My problem was with the characters, I just didn't feel connected to them. I had a hard time keeping them straight which meant I just couldn't get invested. They all seemed kind of surface level and unrelatable which made the overall point of the book fall flat to me. The concept of living funerals should have been really emotional but I just didn't feel it.

Overall, the concept is really unique and impactful, the execution and character development just made it fall flat for me.

I had no idea what this was about when I requested it. I just saw Rowley’s name and knew I needed it immediately! The Guncle was one of my fave reads last summer so I had some high hopes. Much like The Guncle, the main plot is a little on the sadder side, but told in a way that still had me giggling along the way. Rowley just has a way with banter that I absolutely love. Each character is strong in their own way and I loved getting to go through each of their individual journeys. Highly recommend picking this one up at the end of the month!

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. It goes to show, never judge the book by it's cover! I would definitely recommend this book.

This is a really powerful book that focuses on not leaving things unsaid when it comes to those you love. The message is one I really enjoyed; who doesn’t want to be reminded to enjoy every moment with those that mean the most to you? It was a great reminder and I can definitely see this being a huge selling point for this book.

All my good things to say came out first. Now I have a few nitpicky things that didn’t make this book be the five star it could have been.

Firstly, I felt the characters never got fully developed. We just got tossed in there and I didn’t ever feel like I got to know them before their trauma happened to them. Not only that but I feel like they never matured as the book continued. They were in their 50’s but it still felt like they were 19 when they were talking with each other. It was oddly jarring.

Secondly, I never liked Mariella. I’m not sure if that was intentional from the author but her character was pretty awful. She was still acting very emotional over Alec over 20 years later, she kept big secrets yet got mad when other did the same, and general I felt like she was still a teenager instead of a grown woman. I really struggled with her storyline and that unfortunately set a bad tone for the rest of the book and her interactions with the other characters.

Lastly, I think this would have been more powerful as a short story instead of a novel. This book focused on character moments but gave them to us in weird ways (middle age people taking mushrooms in public) and I think I would have preferred for them to have serious conversations with each other or to focus more on them in college so I could get a better understanding of them.

This was an enjoyable book and I think people going into it will enjoy it. I think I expected something more like The Guncle, so I was surprised that this didn’t feel like that at all. However, I do appreciate seeing an author be able to write drastically different things and work on constructing their craft. This book has an important message but for me it got lost in some of the other aspects of the story.

The Celebrants is about a group of friends who are inspired by another friend’s sudden death before college graduation to make a pact to hold “living funerals” for each other at some point during their lives as a way to make sure that person knows they are loved and to help them through a difficult time. One by one as the years go by after graduation, they begin to invoke the pact, and while the living funerals are centered around helping one another work through the difficult present, these events also end up uncovering secrets of the past. Upon reaching their 50’s, the group realizes that one of them will very soon be having a real funeral. This emotional story is thought-provoking in the way it leads the reader to reflect on their lives, embracing ups and downs, and ultimately highlights the power of lasting friendship and found family.

Having enjoyed one of Rowley’s novels previously and hearing a premise that sounded completely unique, I was immediately drawn to this book. Rowley is just such a master of words and emotions in such a unique way - he has a light, funny style of writing that can make you laugh and cry during the same sentence, and he definitely brought that here. I loved many of the messages throughout the story. Unfortunately though, I found myself having trouble really connecting with the characters and making me care about their situations, particularly as they became adults into their 40’s. It seemed like just mere moments after introducing each character before we were swept away into all of the details of their very messy lives, and they never seemed to mature at all with age. It also can’t go without mentioning that there were two characters named Jordan, and even though one went by "Jordy", I kept confusing the two for probably more than half of the book.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I am definitely left with the feeling of really wishing I liked it more than I did. It brought the humor and emotion I’ve come to expect from the author, it made me think about and reflect on my own life, and it kept me thinking about the premise well after I finished it. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows a group of adult friends who met in college and made a pact to host living funerals for each other after they experienced the death of one of their friends in college. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to one of the funerals and the circumstances around which the funerals are called for.
The Celebrants is quite different in substance and tone from Rowley’s masterful The Guncle.
The friendships are accurately depicted as our characters age and go their separate ways; years could pass without talking to each, arguments arise but forgiveness eventually comes around, buried secrets are revealed, inside jokes are shared. But when push comes to shove, the 5 characters truly care about each other and will drop everything to support a friend in need.
The novel deals with some serious issues – sickness, addiction, loss – but remains for the most part funny and optimist throughout.
I instantly fell in love with the characters in this book and felt like I was sitting with them in Big Sur hearing about their lives. The way Rowley makes you fall in love with each and every character in his works is truly brilliant. I was rooting for them, I was angry with them, I was grieving for them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After the death of their friend Alec, Naomi, Marielle, Craig, and the Jordans make a pact that they’ll have funerals for each other while they’re still alive to know how much they’re loved. Nothing left unsaid.

Steven Rowley writes about relationships so well. After reading The Guncle last year, I knew I had to get my hands on this one too and it did not disappoint. The characters are written so well, and despite have 5 main characters, all of them were so well developed and had equal screen time. Initially I was unsure about the way the story was organized. I still wish there had been shorter chapters to break up each section, but by the end I was sold on the way that it had been done otherwise. The Celebrants is an emotional rollercoaster, but so perfectly heartwarming.