So beautifully written. This premise of having a pact with your friends to have funerals while you are still living was so unique and dare I say.. fun! You’ll laugh, cry and fall in love with the characters. This book causes you to look at the good in life and to cherish the people in it. I love Steven Rowley’s books and I’m so happy this was chosen as a Jenna’s pick! It is so well deserved. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When they were in college, their close friend and roommate, Alec, died unexpectedly. The remaining group of friends makes a pact - to have their funerals while they are all still alive, so that the one being celebrated knows how much their friends loved them at what kind of impact they made. Marielle, Naomi, Craig, Jordan, and Jordy have gotten together three times since then, not when one of them is dying but instead when one of them is facing a major life change. For Marielle it was when she was getting divorced, for Naomi when her parents died in a plane crash, and for Craig when he was about to go to prison. However everything is going to change on this fourth trip.

This premise sounded FANTASTIC to me as someone who thinks we should normalize death so much more in our society and the open discussions we should be having. However....this in no way lived up to the high expectations I had.

This book has two timelines - we see everyone's funerals in the past and then at the end of every "section" we see the Jordans in present day as they prepare for the next trip coming up. I think the fact that the funerals happened so many years apart really affected my ability to get to know the characters. We only saw them for brief periods of time so there was almost no character growth to appreciate. Though this story happens over 30+ years, none of the characters really seem to become more mature. I also just didn't buy this friend group at all, they said multiple times that they barely communicated outside of the funerals and I just didn't understand why anyone was still going along with the pact since in the end they barely knew each other. I also find it really difficult to connect with books where I don't like any of the characters and that was also definitely an issue for me here. Also the two characters that get together in the end make 0 sense to me.

I just feel like the emotions could have gone SO much deeper. But ultimately I knew what the ending was going to be and I was neither surprised nor sad about it. Though I will admit by that point I was just trying to finish the book.

Ultimately, if you loved this, I am so glad for you! I think it just wasn't for me and that's okay.

Thank you to Netgalley and JP Putnam for the eARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m one of the few readers who didn’t love The Guncle. I liked it but it wasn’t a homerun like I expected it to be. I then read The Editor on the recommendation from a friend. I loved it.

The Celebrants definitely lived up to my love of The Editor. Though the stories are different the feelings they illicit are the same. I appreciated this friend group> I liked how we got to seesaw their lives evolved and how their friendships ebbed and flowed over time. I appreciated that at the most difficult times in their lives they came back together and were there for each other. This is a book that will make you examine your own life and relationships. It will pull at your heartstrings and remind you of what’s most important in this world. Go read this right now.

I LOVED The Guncle and have shared my copy with many friends. I still enjoyed The Celebrants but I just never felt that connected to any of the five characters. I really like the concept of the living funerals and helping your friends know how much they mean to one another while they are alive. I did have a few unanswered questions though and would have liked to see a bit more resolved!

His writing is the standout though and I loved how much you can feel for this group of friends, loved the heartfelt moments between the group and you could feel how much they cared for one another. This felt like an honest tribute to the growing pains of adulthood, friendships that evolve, and the ways our friendships can help support and save you among some challenges through life. Some characters were infuriating at times but I loved their bonds and the growth they all had together.

Steven Rowley books are amazing. They keep me in a constant state of slightly uncomfortable, laughter, and sadness. The celebrants had me wishing I had a group of equally amazing friends who I’ve known for so well and so long that we too could have a funeral. And, I always enjoy the California settings as I can definitely relate and easily picture where I’m supposed to be.

Loved! A totally different vibe than the Guncle but in a great way. I think this would make for some really great book club discussions too!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Loved the characters. A group of friends decides to have their funerals while alive and they promise to reunite when called upon to attend. We get each character’s funeral story and their background leading to this particularly difficult, life-changing moment. Some are somber, others laugh-out-loud funny. Rowley is talented at writing distinct characters and making the reader like them even when they are hard to like. Four stars.

I wasn’t even through the first chapter of Steven Rowley’s The Celebrants before I started crying. The tears continued to come and go as I read through this heart-felt story of six college friends. I did laugh, as well. The comical scenes were few, but when they did appear, they were laugh-out-loud hysterical. And therein lies Rowley’s appeal. His writing evokes intense emotions that, in the end, leave the reader feeling warm and fuzzy, rather than callously manipulated.

We are first introduced to The Celebrants - Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Marielle, Craig, and Alec - as they gather together for a retreat in Big Sur. This is their third group visit to Naomi’s family vacation home. The first was immediately after Alec’s funeral, days before their graduation from UC Berkeley. Although we never “meet” Alec ourselves, he is as much a character in this story as the other five.

After Alec’s death, the remaining friends make a pact. Funerals, they understand, are for the living. The ones left behind. But isn’t it better to tell your loved ones what they mean to you when they are still alive? So Marielle suggests they have their own funerals while they are still alive to appreciate them. But they will “save them for a rainy day” - each able to call for their own funeral at a time in their life when they need it most. When they need to be reminded that they are loved. They may be scattering after graduation, but with the pact they promise to be there for each other.

The Celebrants is not a plot driven novel. I would categorize it as character driven, except even at the end, I didn’t feel like I really knew these characters. And what I did know of them, I didn’t especially like. Yet somehow I still felt a strong emotional connection to this story with its universal themes of grief, identity, and starting over. My repeated weepiness in the first half of the book developed into full-on sobbing at the end. And I love nothing more than a book that makes me feel.

I think we all have those friends we love, but too often neglect. We get busy and our lives may not intersect as often as they once did. Let this be a reminder to reach out and make them aware of their importance in your life. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Let nothing go unsaid.

Thank you to JP Putnum and NetGalley for providing this arc prior to publication.

I was fairly let down by this latest book from Rowley, after having really enjoyed The Guncle. So much of the emotional resonance of that book was shown and not over-explained. Here, I felt the opposite. Themes and emotional “messages” are stated outright. Of course some of that is due to the plot, naturally when people are celebrating each other intentionally, they’re letting out unique feelings. But the writing and the friendships felt flat and almost not emotionally believable because we aren’t shown enough depth here.

I feel that I may be in the minority here, and those with perhaps different life experiences or different friend relationships will feel differently, but I don’t foresee this book sticking with me.

I was so excited to receive an advance copy of this book! I absolutely loved The Guncle and I was so ready for Steven Rowley’s particular blend of humor and heart. The Celebrants was beautiful and I read it after a recent loss of a dear friend and so many of its themes rang so true. Highly recommend this beautiful reflection on life, friendship, chosen family, and leaving nothing left unsaid.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were relatable and so were the friendships. I felt a lot of emotions while reading this book but overall loved it and recommend it!

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Narrated by: Steven Rowley
Rating: 4 stars
Pub Date: 5/30

Steven Rowley's The Celebrants is a heartwarming and sometimes hilarious novel about a group of friends who come together to celebrate life, love, and loss. The book follows Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle, a group of college friends who reunite every few years in Big Sur to attend each other's "funerals." These gatherings serve as reminders of their meaningful relationships and keep them connected through the years.

This story is full of humor, heart, and wisdom. While it’s a lot more heartbreaking than I realized (I cried a record number of times), Rowley's writing is funny and poignant, and he has a gift for creating memorable characters and stories.

As each friend calls upon the pact in their time of need, we’re reminded of the ways in which friendship can sustain us throughout life’s challenges. The characters are all complex and relatable, and while some are a bit infuriating at times, I couldn’t help but root for them.

I went back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook, and I felt Rowley’s narration added an extra layer of authenticity to the story. If anyone knows how these characters should sound, it’s him!

The Celebrants is deeply moving, funny, and sad and truly captures the essence of love and the power of friendship. This is the perfect choice if you're looking for a book that will make you laugh, cry, and think! Thank you so much to Putnam Books and Netgalley for the ARC and PRH Audio for the free audiobook!

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley made me think about if I should write a list of things I want people to say at my funeral.

Jordan Vargas hasn't seen his college friends in over five years, graduating in over twenty-eight.. Now five friends reunited at a funeral for a loved one, have come up with a pact to celebrate everyone's funeral throughout the year. To celebrate missed moments that others were to busy to celebrate and go to different places that had meaning. All the while, Jordan has a secret that may untether the pact and the friendships that the gang has come to know and love.

While different from Steven Rowley's hit "The Guncle", The Celebrants also has some home hitting messages. Told in a four weddings and a funeral format, readers are taken on a journey from one friend's funeral to the next and the unraveling of it all. This book reminded me that you find out who your friends are and try to stay with them. Also, that it's okay to reconnect with those you haven't talked to in awhile as it'll seem like just yesterday.

"Everyone was on the same ticking clock. They might fool themselves into thinking that more time affords them opportunities to do more things, that the future is open-ended. But the world is simply too big. We weren't meant to see everything, we weren't built to do everything, we aren't capable of knowing everything. At a certain point, peace has to be found with the choices we've made."

After reading and loving Rowley's GUNCLE, I was so excited to read The Celebrants. I really enjoyed this follow up, not as much as Guncle but this book has a very different vibe that I not only appreciated but really related to. The Celebrants tells the story of college friends who lose one of their member and decide that they want to give each other funerals while they are still alive so they may learn from them how much they are loved when it is truly needed. We get to see a number of the friends' funerals in action after divorce, death and impending jail time. I loved following this chaotic and wonderful friend group as they aged, fell in love, fell out of love and came together over and over to celebrate each other.

This book made me think about death, living life to the fullest and the invincibility of youth and how fleeting it is. The important things are what we do now, with the people who love us and so much of this book was a warm hug of friendship and love.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Five friends, four funerals, three decades. Following the death of their friend just weeks before college graduation, five friends gather and make a pact to hold each others’ funerals while they’re all still alive. Over the next 30 years the friends go their separate ways, but still drop everything when one of their number invokes the pact.

I really enjoyed [book:The Guncle], and with [book:The Celebrants], [author:Steven Rowley] has kicked it up another notch. Rowley has written a funny, moving mediation on love and loss, friendship and family, and leaving nothing left unsaid.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
🛩️🪂🪂
🏊🏽‍♂️🦈👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻
🖼️🖼️🤷🏻‍♂️
🤰🐈🐈‍⬛

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Flowers and GP Putnam’s Sons for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Loved the story but not the characters. They all felt like that coworker who just whines and complains about everything.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard that Steven Rowley had a new book coming out, I couldn't wait to read it, and when I read that it was "Big Chill for our times"...well I just knew this would become a favorite! The Celebrants lived up to my expectations, and then some, as I devoured this novel about college friends and the living funeral pact that pulled them back together over the years. The comparison to one of my favorite movies, Big Chill, was appropriate as the similarities were almost eerie at times. I really liked the idea of the pact, and the way it played out was beautiful. Wonderful story, great characters, and Steven Rowley's ability to make you see the humor in very serious subjects and absolutely fall in love with the people he writes about continues in his newest book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the digital ARC of The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. The opinions in this review are my own.

A story about knowing how loved you are before you die. A group of friends make a pact to have their own living funerals when in times of need. This story goes back and forth between various timelines to have readers see the previous funerals and the event that triggered this pact. Because the story jumped around so much I didn’t feel like I was attached to any of the characters.

After this, Steven Rowley is now on my auto buy authors list. I loved The Guncle and the same goes for this book! It was a beautiful, poignant novel of love, grief and letting the people around you know that they are cared about.

The one complaint I have is the EXTREMELY long chapters (I’ve been calling them “sections”) because it makes it difficult for someone like me to read when I don’t like to stop in the middle of a chapter but I don’t always have an uninterrupted hour to dedicate to reading.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Big thanks to Penguin Group, Steven Rowley and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

4⭐️

Plot: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Ending: 3/5

Basic Plot: A group of friends vows to hold their own funerals over the years while they are alive after losing a friend in college. Secrets unfold over the years and it details their lives as they reconnect for each funeral.

My Thoughts:

First off, I loved the Guncle so I knew I had to read basically anything Rowley published so I was so excited to see I got approved for this on NetGalley. For fans of the Guncle, this one takes on a very different tone and isn't the lighthearted, upbeat novel that we got from Rowley the first time. That being said, I don't think everyone that was a fan of the Guncle will love this one.

I was a big fan of this book as it hit home with me since I lost a friend in our college years and we had a friend group similar to the one described. There were so many scenes and emotions that I could relate to and Rowlely did an amazing job at portraying those feelings through this book. I also loved the funeral pact they created to both keep them connected and to use in times of need to celebrate their lives before they were actually gone.

This book brought a new sense of meaning to life and was funny in ways that most people don't expect when reading a book that has so much to do with death. I actually really liked the characters in this one and how each of them had their own distinct personalities. There were a few points where I got a little annoyed with some of the secrets or the way things were handled - especially the ending. I wanted a little synopsis on where everyone was at the end and if they still planned on seeing each other.

Overall, this one was a bit slow in the beginning and it took time to figure out which character was which. Especially in the Jordy/Jordan situation. But by the time the secrets started unfolding, I was hooked. Rowley's writing had that same emotion from the Guncle but just in a different sense. I think this was a great next book from the author and I cannot wait to see what else they write.