This is a lovely story about friendship, found family, grief, starting over, and the importance of telling the people you love how much you care about them (while they're still around to hear it). I don't really know what I was expecting when I started reading "The Celebrants," but I wasn't prepared for just how much I would fall in love with each of these characters (flaws and all!), and how invested I would be in seeing them get through the challenges of living meaningful and authentic lives from young-adulthood through middle-age. I don't know if it's also because I just turned 40 a few weeks ago (haha), but this story resonated with me in so many ways. I was invested in their journey from page one.

For me, this book includes everything I'm looking for in contemporary fiction: authentic adult friendships, found family (flaws and all), grief (but also hopefulness), humor, flashbacks to earlier times (I love the pop culture references of the '90s and early '00s, and I'm HERE for the Courtney scale!), and a big kick-in-the-pants message for the reader. I left this book thinking deeply about several of my closest friendships and feeling wistful that I haven't been better at maintaining some of my lifelong friendships.

In short, "The Celebrants" is a beautiful story about coming to terms with your life, your choices (the good and the bad), and the unrelenting passage of time. Change is inevitable, and it can (and should) be celebrated. Through the lens of humor (and a good dash of sarcasm!), Steven Rowley has done something magical and brilliant with what otherwise might have been a very dark story. This book reminds us that it's never too late to start over or take a chance and make a change in our lives (after all, we only have one!) - - - and remember to appreciate, love, and celebrate those who share our journey.

I loved the Guncle and had very high hopes for The Celebrants. I loved the Jordans but even with the nickname Jordy it was hard at the beginning to keep track of who was who. The storyline does feel a little disjointed and does jump all over the place. I think I needed more of the characters stories from when they were in college. I needed more Alec to then really understand what the characters were experiencing. It was a quick read and had some cute moments but I needed more from the characters. I wanted to know more about the Jordan’s life together. This will be a cute and quick summer read but it falls short of expectations.

I loved The Guncle so I requested The Celebrants as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. Thank you for this advance ebook. I enjoyed reading about the development of their friendships over a span of 30+ years. At times, I felt the book was a little disjointed for me, the jumps in years between living funerals. I wanted to get to know the characters more. I loved how no matter what was happening in their lives, they showed up for each other when they needed to. I wish I had a group of friends that special, I felt that the ending was a little
abrupt. I was expecting it but I also felt like I wanted more.

While I was a HUGE fan of The Guncle by Steven Rowley, unfortunately this book missed the mark for me. I found the concept of having funerals for each other before death/when needed most to be an interesting concept, but better characters were needed. I did not really like any of the characters and found the relationships between each other to be lacking. I wanted there to be more of a connection to the chapter titles in the chapters themselves.

I thought there was too much build-up and not enough of a justifiable ending. Overall, I will probably read another one of Rowley's books, but it has a lot to live up to after this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Friends Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle made a pact in their 20s when their friend suddenly died. They vowed to give everyone a living funeral so that each person would know their worth in life before it was too late. This reunion is different because Jordan has a secret that will upend their pact and test the bond of their friendships. What a charming novel on friendships, celebrating life, and the journey of life.

TW: suicide

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital ARC in exchange for my review.

The Guncle is one of my favorite books, so I went into this with high expectations and really wanted to love it. However, despite the unique premise, I couldn’t connect to any of the five main characters and found it hard to buy into their friendship over the years. Still, it is a quick read with poignant writing and important themes of found family and figuring out life’s struggles. Just know going in there aren’t many funny and light moments!

Thank you Putnam for the Arc! Pub date 5/30

Steven Rowley has a way of making me laugh with tears in my eyes, of making relationships in books feel like relationships I have had or want to have, and making me want to hand out his books to everyone I know.

I loved The Celebrants, tinged with some melding of sad nostalgia vibes (very indeed Big Chill feels, one of my top movies of all times) and blended with the genuine love of friendship and the messiness that is adulthood. Rowley's writing is a big heartfelt hug.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

In this read we follow a group of college friends as they navigate adult hood while bound by pact. After one of their friends suddenly dies, they opt to each have the option to call a living funeral to allow for others to know why they are worth living. After many years, no one had triggered this pact until one friend experienced a life altering event pulling the friends back together. The book is then broken out into parts giving background on each friend and why they their funeral was initiated, each time uniting them even more. The the content was dark, this book still had funny moments and kept me engaged.

(4.5/5.0) The Celebrants by Steven Rowley 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.

The story follows a group of adults who went to college together, promising long ago to stay connected through a funeral pact. Essentially, they promise to love out loud and not leave anything left unsaid, after attending a funeral where the person being honored missed out on the chance to hear all the wonderful tributes.

I’ll be up front and say that this probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you are comparing it to The Guncle. The writing flowed the same, with humor woven into hard moments, but the attachment to characters might be different. The character development is told mainly through flashbacks and you learn about their pasts, versus growing with them. You learn enough to understand the group’s bond, but you don’t sink into characters in depth.

For me, it didn’t detract from the story and I shed actual tears at the end (in public, no less). Chosen family is one of my very favorite storylines and the exploration of love, loss, and grief is my favorite kind of book cry.

This was a great fit for me, and I’d recommend it to anyone else who might want to spill a tear over a fictional character.

Content warnings: death, terminal illness, cancer, grief

A twist on a “Bucket List” story, this novel packed an emotional punch. Like “The Guncle”, it handled grief with humor and a reliance on the ones we love most. The group of friends had a unique relationship, but to me, they were more “trauma bonded” than truly close knit friends. There was a twist with 2 of the characters that I thought added a lot of interest, but otherwise it was pretty straightforward in its telling. It was a quick read, and one that reminded me to not wait until it’s too late to celebrate the people I love.

Even after almost thirty years after suddenly passing, Alec is still very much apart of a close group of college friends’ as they navigate big swings that life throws at them. The friend’s death sparks the group to celebrate their lives now while they are living.

I really liked the premise of THE CELEBRANTS but found myself having a hard time connecting to the characters while reading it. At times it felt a slower pace but that could be due to book being mostly about reflections and the past. I did appreciate and admire the ending. I am glad to see others are enjoying it even though it wasn’t for me.

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

I thought the idea behind this book was clever. Having a funeral for someone while they are still leaving so that they know how loved they are? This is right up my alley.
However, I was really distracted by the fact that these five friends were pretty unbelievable as friends. It's the Seinfeld experience- these people are NOT nice to one another and it's hard to figure out why they are friends, much less how that friendship lasted so long.
The writing was sharp and on point. But if you are looking for a book similar to The Guncle, just know that this doesn't hit that level of warmth and light-heartedness.

I really loved Rowley’s Guncle, and enjoyed that this had similar humor and banter. A fun read with a lot of heart, you can’t help but care about the characters. The book is very dialogue heavy so I was craving more plot and backstory, but overall glad I read it.

Short Summary:
Jordan and his group of college friends reunite to celebrate each others “living funerals” for each member when they need it most. After a friend died in their 20s, they wanted to ensure everyone knew how much each other mattered.

My Thoughts:
I think this was a right book, wrong time situation for me. I struggled connecting with it. The characters felt very chaotic to me with POVS switching aimlessly.

It’s a character-driven story and I loved the overall message about celebrating the people you love.

A total 5 star read about 5 friends gather when one of them calls upon “the pact.” You see they made a commitment to show up for one another in the form of a living funeral when they need to know just exactly how much they are loved, during their darkest moments, or most troubling times. Those troubling times include deaths, cancer, divorce, and even art fraud. At times the reader will struggle through tears to finish this book but it will be worth it and the reader will discover they are not alone in their struggles, in their grief, in their hope.
I loved the trips to Naomi’s parents Big Sur house to remember the good times, to celebrate the idealism of youth and the reality of the present moment in which our 5 friends find themselves.
Admittedly my first time reading a Stephen Rowley book, but certainly not my last. This is a books about grief, friendship, love, trust, hope, and showing up; showing up when you are needed the most. And it is also a reminder that you may feel alone but you are not.

Pros: I really liked The Guncle, so I was excited to read the author’s newest book. This book is about complicated friendships and how special college friendships are. I think readers who love books about found family and family dramas will enjoy this book.

Cons: Although I wanted to like this book, I never connected with or cared about the characters. I think readers who connect with the characters will have a much different/better reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars but rounding up.

I had never read anything by this author before but had heard how wonderful Guncle was. The premise of this book sounded like one that I'd enjoy so I was excited to check this out.

The Celebrants follows 5 friends who lost a close member of their group when they were all in college together. They make a pact to give each other a living funeral whenever one of them is going through a particularly tough time in their life so they can reminded that they are loved. They can only call in their pact funeral once in their life and this story follows them all from college and into their 50s.

I agree with others in that it reminded me a lot of The Big Chill, which I loved. I guess the disconnect for me is that I didn't feel attached or even really like any of the characters. I liked the Jordans the most out of all of them. Still, there wasn't any moment in the book where I felt like I HAD to know what happened next. There weren't many fun and light moments. The ride was kinda all one tone. If that makes any sense. I can see why some people would love this though. The writing was very good. It's about found family and telling others why you love and appreciate them while they are still with you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to this eARC so that I may share my honest feedback and review.
This has been posted on my Goodreads

After reading Rowley's The Guncle two summers ago, I was thrilled to be provided with an ARC copy of his forthcoming novel, The Celebrants.

Spanning the decades of their friendship that formed in college, Jordan, Jordy, Marielle, Naomi, and Craig make a pact to throw one another living funerals - an opportunity to celebrate each of them while they are still alive.

I thought this was a really beautiful look at how friendships evolve and change as adults. I liked how it was told from the POV of the different friends throughout the book, and Rowley has a true gift for developing relatable characters, believable dialogue, and relationships worth rooting for.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley is the story of four life-long friends who help each other through the challenges of middle age. The storytelling is well done and the reader feels like they know all of the characters intimately by the end of the novel. As with the author's other works, there is humor throughout, even when tragic events occur. There is a lot of heart here. Highly recommended for readers looking for a light read with some emotional depth.

As The Celebrants opens, Jordan, Jordy, Craig, Marielle and Naomi are together in Big Sur. It’s 2023 and almost 30 years since they all first met (along with their sixth roommate, Alec) as transfer students at Berkeley. It was fate (and the person assigning roommates in the Housing Department) that brought them together initially, but deep friendships and the “pact” that kept them together.
The story goes back and forth between the 90’s and present day, and each chapter is about one of the friends. I loved the titling of the chapters and the tremendous interest in the music of the Carpenters and related lyrics. The overall book definitely had Big Chill vibes for me!
When the friends first gathered in Big Sur, following Alec’s sudden death, they agreed on a pact to hold funerals for each other whenever needed to make sure nothing was left unsaid about how they were loved. And so, we experience their lives in and around each of their “funerals”. One of my favorite paragraphs:

“And yet here they were at a starting line, comically stretching cold muscles, waiting for the BANG of a starter pistol, not realizing they were twenty two years into a race that has different lines for them all.”

The Celebrants is a typical Steven Rowley book - you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and, in between, you’ll become immersed in an interesting story of beautifully developed characters. Mr. Rowley has such a talent for incorporating difficult issues, like the death of family and friends, into a poignant and yet often very funny novel. I can’t wait to see what he tackles next!
Thanks to Netgalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for the opportunity to read The Celebrants in exchange for an honest review.