I really enjoy Steven Rowley’s books. They’re full of complicated relationships, explorations of grief, heartwarming moments, and queer characters. The plot of The Celebrants follows a group of college friends who lose one of their members in their senior year. They vow to throw each other funerals while they’re still alive so they can be reminded of how valuable and loved they are.

I liked getting to see glimpses of the characters at different points in their lives. They all had distinct personalities, and it was fun to view what they were like in college versus later on in middle age. Their friendship also seemed realistic, they move to different places and don’t talk all the time. But when a member of the group was experiencing a low point and called them together to have a funeral they were all there.

There’s a good mix of emotions and tones throughout the book. There are fun, silly moments and heartfelt moments of people connecting with one another and realizing their importance. I definitely recommend checking this book out. While there are sad or heavy topics brought up I never felt like the book was depressing or melodramatic.

He's done it again! Steven Rowley has a way of writing a book that's so genuine, so real, with characters so real that by the end of the book you feel like they are your friends. The whole premise of the book was brilliant, and Rowley took a bit of a hokey idea and turned it into one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. The characters were all flawed, but that's what made them special; it made me wish I was one of The Celebrants, too. This has been a great spring for new books that leave a deep impact on their readers, and I cannot wait to share The Celebrants with all my readers.

This novel 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.

Although it also deals with the subject of grief, this book is definitely different in tone from Steven Rowley’s breakout hit of two years ago, The Guncle. It reminded me more of the type of writing of books by Jonathan Tropper and Matthew Norman (indeed Norman’s last book, All Together Now, is about a group of college friends who gather for a vacation where one reveals that he is dying). It is perhaps a tiny bit less unique and special than The Guncle, but I still loved it!

I’m just a little younger than the characters in this book, so I really could relate to both the pop culture references for their time in college, and the ways your friendships with your college friends change over the years. I also had a friend pass away last year and another who is currently quite ill, which definitely made the themes of grief, facing mortality, and telling people how much they mean to you while they’re still alive more poignant.

Six college students transfer to UC Berkeley from other universities at the beginning of their sophomore year, find themselves in the same dormitory, and, based on their shared stigma as transfers, forge a friendship that will last a lifetime. But on the eve of graduation, one of their number is found dead--cause unknown. That shattering event leads Marielle to declare a pact among the remaining five--the others are Jordan, Jordy, Craig, and Naomi--to stage a funeral for each of them upon demand, while the requester is still alive.

After graduation they scatter all over the country for their new jobs, and only the two Jordans decide to turn their close friendship into a romantic relationship. Over the next 25+ years, each "living funeral" takes place when one of the friends is going through a challenge that makes them long to reconnect with the group--a failing marriage and teenage daughter, a legal disaster, a plane crash that takes the lives of parents, and a serious illness.

I must admit that it took me a while to warm up to the five individuals, if not the premise of the pact. But before reaching the middle of the novel, I realized that I was all-in.. The author develops each person beautifully and makes each "funeral" seem somehow inevitable. Each of the ceremonies takes place in a different venue and plays out touchingly--they were my favorite scenes of the book.

The overarching theme is that we all need to know, while we are alive, that there are others who love and value us beyond our wildest expectations and despite our flaws, and that we are not alone. The Celebrants is not a comedy like Rowley's last book The Guncle, but it is a winner.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. @mrstevenrowley previous novel, The Guncle is one of my favorites so when I saw this one, I knew I had to read it! I devoured this in one day and it has left me with all the feels! As someone who is still close with my core group of college friends, this one really got to me. By going back and forth between all their “funerals” and the Jordans in the present, this story unfolds in such a wonderful way. Rowley has such a way of mixing humor and gut wrenching scenes to make something truly special. For anyone who has had longstanding friendships that feel like family, this is a book you will want to check out!

When a group of college friends loses one of their own, it makes them think hard about the briefness of life. There are a lot of what if’s that go unanswered. Jordy, Jordan, Craig, Naomi, and Marielle decide the way to honor Alec’s short life is to invoke a pact to honor each other before their time with a funeral.
This is such a moving story about friendship and being there for each other no matter what. It’s about telling people how you feel before it’s too late.

Thank you Penguin for allowing me to review this advanced reader copy.

While The Guncle will go down as one of my all time favorites, this one just missed the mark completely for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters and it took me so long to get through it and that was with a lot of skimming. In general, I don't care for flashbacks but sometimes they work so well but unfortunately, not in this case. Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read the book.

Wow!! Last year I discovered on Bookstagram The Guncle. It was one of my favorite reads of the year. When I heard Steven Rowley had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it. He did not disappoint. Again Steven’s heartfelt and poignant writing about the people that keep us going when we encounter loss. Well done and I look forward to your next book!

📚 The Celebrants
✍ Steven Rowley
📖 Contemporary Fiction
⭐ 3.75/5

🙏 Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the eARC of The Celebrants in exchange for an honest review.
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💭 Five college friends mourning the unexpected loss of the sixth in their group make a pact to never let things go unsaid. To that end, they vow to hold celebrations of each other (funerals) before they die. Each invokes their funeral during a trying time in their own life. Bookended by the imminent death of one of their own, the friends recall each of the other funerals- from Big Sur to Mexico to New York- and the memories they've collected in lieu of grief. The book is a celebration of friendship and the bonds that tether us together regardless of time and space and will leave you asking: why do we wait until death to celebrate a life well lived?
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🎯 What I loved: Steven Rowley has a way of exploring love and loss with a levity that is both funny and gentle. The Celebrants was beautifully crafted and each of its characters is emotionally rich. The premise of calling your own funeral when you need it most was creative and wholesome- and it was interesting to see what caused each of the friends to cede to instigating a reunion. Even 30 years after their graduation, revelations about their time in college kept surfacing and I was invested in both the past and present of the stories being told.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: I just finished The Guncle a few weeks ago and was expecting similar sass and humor in The Celebrants but it was a lot heavier. Though both books explored grief and loss, there were a lot fewer LOL moments for me in The Celebrants and parts of it dragged a little bit. The chapters were really long so it was hard to find natural stopping points. And Naomi- as a character, she was just the worst!
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Read if you love:
* the TV show "A Million Little Things"
* hopeful stories about grief and loss
* enduring college friendships
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See also: Float Plan, The Unsinkable Greta James, The Last Romantics

Like other reviewers, I picked up The Celebrants because I loved Guncle and was thrilled to find another witty character-driven novel by Rowley. At first, I was slightly overwhelmed being dropped into the present-day world of our four main characters, but I quickly settled in and by the end, I could have read an entire book about each of them. I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on this come May.

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam/G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

After the sudden death of one of their friends, a group of college students make a pact to give each other living funerals. Over the next few decades, the friends expose old wounds together, help each other through unexpected hardships, and work to maintain their relationships as they grow and change. This book was so heartfelt and I loved the dynamic of this friend group. This author is incredible (I loved the Guncle!) and did a fabulous job with a much heavier tone. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

The Guncle was one of my favorite reads of 2022, so my hopes were high for this one. It's a very different novel, but I loved it. The Celebrants follows friends over several decades as they encounter the highs and lows of life. After the death of their college friend, they all decide to have their own funerals while they're still alive. They reunite for each one, whether it's after the death of a parent, a divorce, or another of life's curveballs. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once, and I loved each of the characters for different reasons.

Thank you so much for the ARC. I have thoroughly enjoyed every book Rowley has written. I find myself feeling more empathetic after reading his novels. I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

This new release is from the author of THE GUNCLE, follows five friends who make a funeral pact after the death of one of their friends just weeks prior to their college graduation. The pact is simple, each person can trigger it once, whenever they’d like, and they will all show up and hold a pre-death funeral so the celebrant can hear about how much they mean to the others, before they are actually dead. The novel is told in basically four chapters, one for each of the 4 that triggered the pact, but also focuses heavily on two of the five, married couple Jordy and Jordan (referred to collectively as “The Jordans”).

The celebrants does a beautiful job of tackling some hard-hitting topics with ease and charm. Love, loss, illness, expectations, and fulfillment with life choices are explored through these characters who are unique but also fully relatable.

While I absolutely loved the premise of this book, I think it fell a little flat for me in some of the storylines and lack of development in some of the other characters. I thought there was so much potential to expand on some of the other characters’ storylines that was totally missed.

This was such a unique book, I absolutely loved it!

After the death of their friend, 5 college friends make a pact to give each other living funerals in times of need. The goal, leave nothing unsaid.
The authors humor throughout was a perfect way to keep the characters relatable. I also loved the message that came from this book, no matter how dark or lonely your situation may be, there are others who have been deeply affected by you. You make a difference.

I give this book 4/5 stars. I can’t wait to read more books by Rowley!
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the digital ARC of “The Celebrants” by Steven Rowley.

Rowley has to be one of my new favorite authors. After reading The Guncle I knew I had to get my hands on this one. I absolutely loved this story of friendship. The characters were so relatable and I fell in love with each one of them for different reasons. Highly recommend this novel.

Knowing how well "The Guncle" did (although I never read it myself), I was so excited to receive this as a NetGalley. Steven Rowley did not disappoint.
The premise seems really simple: lifelong friends agree to a pact to hold 'living' funerals after the loss of one of their friends. It flip flops in dual timelines of all of their funerals, the pact called into action when one of them needed it most, and current day.
The characters in this story are so deeply flawed and, by that notion, so relatable. This story deals with loss, friendship, romance, guilt, self-deprecation: all beautifully woven together through these funerals.
I would highly recommend!

The Celebrants is another example of what Rowley does best. He takes sensitive topics like grief, death, and loss and writes them in a way that is both touching, intimate, and funny. I highlighted so many meaningful quotes about life, loss, and friendship but above are two that stuck out to me.

In The Celebrants, a group of college friends make a pact to always be there for each other when they are needed the most. Each vows to call the group together when times get tough and they then throw a living funeral for that person so they can see how loved and impactful they are. This found family could not be more unique, each flawed and facing their own demons.

I found myself laughing throughout (especially during the skydiving scene), chuckling at all the witty banter, and tears were definitely shed. However my favorite part of the book was the tie-in with songs from The Carpenters, which hit me the most as they are a band both near and dear to my heart. (Just ask my children who endured my nightly lullabies of (They Long To Be) Close To You.)

This is an emotional book that I highly recommend. Although it deals with heavy topics, it filled me with a warmth and longing while reading. With thought provoking quotes, funny but meaningful scenes, and an unlikely group of friends that dropped everything to be there for each other, Rowley has himself another winner!

Steven Rowley does it again with a touching, will written novel that will have you both laughing and crying. The characters are impossible to forget and will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.