This book absolutely hit everything for me. As someone who graduated from college in '95 and experienced the death of a friend weeks before graduation there was something cathartic in reading this book. There was a lot of emotion and remembrance for me, there was crying at times. Definitely a Big Chill for the Gen X crowd.

I am a huge Steven Rowley fan, and even so, The Celebrants managed to exceed even my highest expectations. I've also always loved The Big Chill - it was one of my mom's favorite movies and we often played the soundtrack in the car - so the premise of the book really jumped out at me. College friends reconnecting throughout their lives to help each other through tough times? Sign me up.

I’ll be honest, I don’t even know how to begin this review. Can I just shout, over and over, that you need to run out, right now, preorder this book immediately, trust me on this? I texted my best friend this morning and all I could come up with is “it is so f*#&ing good.”

I'm not much of an annotator when I read, but I found myself regularly highlighting passages through this book, and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can reread and notice all over again all the passages that moved me. There were so many passages that leapt off the page and grabbed me by my heart. I even noted a few passages down to bring up in therapy; I don’t really know if that counts as an endorsement of the book, but I guess it shows that this book was exactly what I needed to read at exactly this moment. Rowley has such a way with words, and expresses the characters' experiences so well - no easy feat given the diverse perspectives represented among this group of friends.

This book will make you FEEL in all caps, but it will also make you laugh. There are some genuinely laugh out loud moments scattered throughout the book, so the experience of reading the book, swinging from tenderness to humor to grief, so perfectly captures human experience. This is a book I expect to reread again and again, and I've already started urging friends to get their preorders in - I fully expect this to become one of my top books of the year.

Just before graduation, an apartment of students at Berkley is shocked when their roommate Alec overdoses. Gathering together, they make a pact that when they are in desperate need, they can each request a  living "funeral" - a gathering where they are reminded that life is still worthwhile. They've been there through Marielle's divorce, Naomi's parents' death, and Craig's art fraud conviction. But now Jordan's diagnosis has him and his husband facing a living funeral that might preceed an actual funeral.

I wanted to like The Celebrants more than I did. I liked the idea of the book - the examination of life's struggles and our need for deeper connections. Yet, the characters fell flat for me and the friendships didn't seem genuine. In Rowley's last book, The Guncle, I felt drawn to every single character but in The Celebrants, none of the characters evoked any emotion in me. The funeral format of the plot resulted in a lot of telling about the characters instead of showing details of their lives. In all, The Celebrants was a heartfelt story that missed the mark for me.

The celebrants: if you want a heartwarming book that will make you laugh and want to call your friends, this is the book for you. Jordan, Jordy, Marielle, Craig, Naomi and Alec are friends in college at UC Berkley. When Alec dies suddenly before graduation, the remaining 5 make a pact to have living funerals that they can each invoke once, at the lowest point of their lives to remind themselves that they are loved and they matter. Told over an 18 year period, the story pops in and out of their lives and reminds you of those OG friendships that never change no matter how long you’ve been apart. Steven Rowley is such a talented writer - his books are sweet, uplifting, funny and poignant, and this one is no exception.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley was perfect!
He is now a major favorite of mine!
Two for two…. You’re a winner in my book!

This was a hilarious but heartwarming story of five college friends who get together to celebrate decades of friendships and promises. To celebrate their lives and their challenges.
Oh, how I love these characters! The characters and their relationship is something special, beautiful and heart warming. I enjoyed and cherished the many meaningful discussion and moments.

Rowley’s ability to create humor and love, to writing characters that felt so real, who were truly enthralling.
Is really amazing. And he never needs to stop!
He creates stories that are unique and emotionally driven!

Hands down one of my top reads of 2023! This book was incredible.
And when The Celebrants releases May of this year do yourself a favor and get it!
It’s spectacular, moving, touching but most of it’s a fun and exciting time!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Steven Rowley has done it again.

“The Guncle” was my favorite book of 2022, and I eagerly waited for this book to become available. Thanks to @netgalley, I was able to get an advanced copy.

This story tells of 5 students, ready to graduate college who are meeting to celebrate the life of the sixth friend of their group.

At this celebration, they decide to make sure that each of them knows how important they are to each other, by allowing each of them to invoke a pact to have their “living funeral” when they need it.

This story takes us through some beautiful locations, (The Guncle made me want to go back to Palm Springs) such as Big Sur and Mexico, and each of the survivors funerals. What most do not know is that for one “Celebrant” they have a terminal diagnosis.

It was a great story, I read it slowly to savor the beautiful writing. Five enthusiastic stars.

The Celebrants is a worthy follow up to The Guncle.

Don’t compare it to The Guncle; that’s simply not fair. Guncle was far and away the hit of 2021, giving us big laughter and even bigger hugs. I adored every character, every plot turn.

I found The Celebrants to be a quieter story, a softer hug, a gentler chuckle. I loved some of the characters, but not all, realizing halfway in that it’s rather similar to real life friendships, some I love harder than others.

This group of college friends, who create a pact to call a ‘funeral’ when it is needed, know the value not only of friendship but of life. To say aloud the unsaid, to live life right so that death is simply the next stage, to embrace life with passion, to just be there for one another.

Yes, I was weeping over the final pages, highlighting so many quotes to remember as my own tomorrows get shorter and my yesterdays longer. The hug for The Celebrants is like my hug for the grandfather I adored.

I will happily read anything Steven Rowley writes! This novel of old college friends giving each other living funerals had a unique, cool premise and I kept picturing it as a movie or series as I read it. Wonderfully written, funny and touching, this one definitely had Big Chill vibes, which I loved.

This was a great follow up for this author. I think if you enjoyed his first book you will also love this one.

This author truly has a gift of crafting characters that are unique and a story that is emotionally driven. This feels reminiscent of what it's like to have your core group of friends. The ones you have grown with, went through life’s ups and downs, and have a bond with that goes beyond the word friend. This group of friends felt like that to me. He curated characters that are flawed, but still perfect by engraining them with a wide diverse emotional range.

How this author seamlessly intertwined grief with witty dialogue making this an entertaining read without being too heavy. His ability to switch between timelines while also having a multiple POV and never losing his audience along the way was masterfully done. This is a moving book that will touch your heart from beginning to end. It’s the kind of book that doesn’t leave you when it’s over and I guarantee you will be thinking about it for years to come

The Guncle was my favorite book of 2021 so I was eager to read this next book by Rowley. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold a candle to my fave, but those are big shoes to fill.

The Celebrants follows four friends that made a pact after losing one of their friends. They would hold a living funeral for each other once someone initiated the pact.

The book has a good message, but the writing felt clunky at times and the humor forced. I do enjoy that Rowley can take a depressing topic and give it a lighthearted spin. I’ll still be reading all his future books.

Pick this up for a quick read if you want a pleasant read with great LGTBQ representation.

Reading this book was a strange experience - not necessarily in a bad way - because it was different than most book-reading experiences. Being honest, when I wasn't reading it, I never thought of it. I didn't feel compelled to pick up my copy. It was just always there on my nightstand, waiting for me, during my usual reading window before going to bed. And yet, every time I did pick it up and start reading, I found myself racing through the pages. I found most of the main characters unlikeable, but that doesn't mean the story was. It was a sad and happy ride, situations both relatable and unimaginable. I never felt too strongly about The Celebrants, but at the same time, every reading session, I was in it. I give this one a 3.75/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange I've provided this unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is undoubtedly the best book I read this year. I fell in love with all of the characters. Their relationships with one another were a pleasure to watch unfold and grow as time passed through the novel. I cried, I laughed, I will probably read it again soon. 100% recommend this one!

Steven Rowley's The Celebrants is a delight! If you loved The Gungle, I'm confident you'll enjoy this as well. It has that same perfect mix of dark humor and wholesomeness you didn't know you needed. Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group, for an advanced copy of this book.

Loved this “getting the band back together” nostalgic novel. Steven Rowley has become a must buy author for me. a feel-good vibe in all that he writes.

I have thought about this book often after finishing it.
These characters...they stick with you. They're too large to contain in the pages of this book. They come alive as you read them. They live on, evoking the feelings of life long friends, after their tale has finished.
I want to snuggle up in a warm sweater with a cup of tea and chat with these characters about how their week has been. I want to go on vacation with them to Italy and walk around chatting, laughing, and drinking wine. That is how good Steven Rowley's writing is.
The author makes you fall in love with the characters in this book. He does such a good job of this that you still love them even though at times you'd like to yell at them, kick them, and tell them to go fuck themselves.
While this story ends perfectly, I selfishly want to know more about the group of misfits its pages contain.
What a lovely thing it is to have been given the opportunity to read this book. I can't recommend it enough!

Wow What an emotional book! I enjoyed Guncle by Steven Rowley but this one was so much more.
I highly recommend it and I was lucky enough to receive a copy from NetGalley. Thank You!!

*****Publishing May 30, 2023*****


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Naomi, Craig, Marielle, Jordy, Jordan, and Alex all met as transfer students at Berkley, where they became friends. They all graduated in 1995 except for Alex because he had unexpectedly died. At that point, this group decided that they needed to get together for “living funerals”, an excuse to get together to show how much they mean to each other. When life gets hard, they are supposed to call the group together for a celebration of their life. On Jordy’s “living funeral” trip, Jordan has to inform them his cancer has spread and he doesn’t have long. This news brings them closer to making it extra special for Jordan as well.

This heartfelt book is about the importance of friendships. When a friend dies in your friend group, you realize how precious life is, so you make time to do regular get-together instead of waiting for a funeral when everyone is forced to come together. A clever preface to a book! Why not take the time to support/celebrate with each other when everyone is still alive! A great book club pick as this book would lead to meaningful discussions!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam (G.P. Putnam's Sons ), I was provided an ARC of The Celebrants by Steven Rowley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheCelebrants #NetGalley

Sometimes the right book comes along at the right time and makes a genuine impact on your current outlook on life. Steven Rowley's latest novel The Celebrants, about a group of friends who make a pact to throw each other funerals while they're still alive (to remind them how much they're loved), captures so many of the complicated feelings that come with getting older - the pain of looking back at life's disappointments, the sinking feeling one wasted too much time on insignificant things, the awful realization that you're going to keep losing people as you go along. It's heavy stuff, but this book has a high emotional intelligence and celebrates life and friendship in such an affirming way - it all just made me want to reach out to everyone I know to tell them how great they are. It's also consistently witty without trying too hard, the story moves through multiple timelines in a way that feels natural and not confusing, and the funerals are all unique and memorable (my favorite was the skydiving one). Only complaint: I didn't feel like the Jordans were that distinguishable from one another and I kinda of just thought of them as one person. I know some couples can be that way but here I just wanted a little more of their separate interior worlds. Loved this for so many reasons but especially for reminding me to enjoy life and give love unconditionally.

Rowley did it again. his books are funny while still being deep. I really loved the story line to this one. it is different than his other books but in the best way. I highly recommend for the spring summer!