Steven Rowley sure knows how to write a book that is both funny and emotionally damaging, and I knew from just the first few pages it was going to be a doozy (in the best of ways). This one has a little bit of a slow burn start, but then gets right into the action. The story goes back and forth between present day and the “living funerals” that have already taken place. I loved getting to know the characters through this type of timelines and seeing them change over the course of the book and the things they go through together. The banter between the five of them was fantastic, and I loved how it could go from funny sarcasm, to frustration, to sweetness all in the span of a couple pages. This was a fun and touching story of how friendship can endure decades, and the power of leaning on the people who have known you most of your life.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader's copy of this book.

The Celebrants is a beautiful story of lifelong friendship. Five friends spend decades gradually discovering what it means to live life to the fullest through the bond they made in college and the pact that keeps their connection going. This is a tale of grief, secrets, betrayal, love, and a found family that comes apart and back together over time. Rowley's previous novel The Guncle was a big hit, but I thought it was just ok. This one was much more memorable for me and the characters more compelling. Any book that makes me cry by the end is a winner.

Following a group of friends over many years, this book provides a glimpse into the human experience and relatable, rarely talked about topics like grief, death and having a front row seat to it all. When this group experiences a death in the early stages of their adulthood, they make a pact to throw & attend funerals for each other while they’re still alive to enjoy it. Glimpsing into each of their funerals gives us a snippet of their lives and relationships to each other. I appreciated the format and themes of this book, but found some of the relationships unbelievable. I wish we got more interactions to the characters. The secondary and tertiary plots were incredible! Definitely recommend for litfic & prose nerds, or those who need a good “I need something different” book.

A group of seven college friends decide that instead of waiting for each other to die to gather at a funeral, that they would have "living" funerals for one another where they meet up, and hang out, share a eulogy, and say all the good things about that one specific friend.

This doesn't have the humor and fun of The Guncle, but takes a more serious look at the hardships of life. I loved the relationship that these friends had over the years as they would bond with one another as life tragedy strikes. I never felt really connected to any of the characters and actually felt a disconnect with the reality of life and their lives...it was almost like friendship was more important than family. Not to say friends can't be really great and hugely important but it was almost like they mattered more than anyone else. I'm sure it was just the spin the book took.

Being my third book that Rowley has written I think I have a feel for his writing. He often gives a sense of somberness and solidarity.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advance e-copy of this book.

I was so excited to read the ARC of The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. I adored his last book, The Guncle, and was looking forward to more of Rowley’s signature humor and heart.

After the sudden death of a friend way too young, a group of college friends convene for his funeral and make a pact not to leave anything unsaid or any of them wondering what they meant to each other. Reuniting over the years to throw each other “living funerals,” the pact keeps the friends tethered to each other, even when separated by time and distance. This heartwarming story of a group of college friends who honor each other by expressing what they mean to each other when they most need it shows us how our closest friends can be a lifeline in the wake of personal tragedy, abandonment, loss of freedom, or even a life-threatening disease.

A modern-day Big Chill, The Celebrants is a soul-wrenching read that will make you laugh and cry. Sometimes at the same time.

I really enjoyed this book and am a Steven Rowley fan for life.

Thank you to @netgalley @penguinputnam and @stevenrowley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. #TheCelebrants #NetGalley #StevenRowley

A moving story of a group of close-knit college friends who lose one of their own on the eve of graduation. In response to their grief, they make a pact to hold funerals for each other while they're all still alive so that they can each know how loved they are. Over the years, as each member of the group faces a turning point in their life, the friends come together to honor and pay tribute to the friend in crisis. The funeral sections are interspersed with the present storyline of married couple Jordan and Jordy, as Jordan faces a terminal cancer diagnosis. This book really grew on me as I read it. There are moments that made me laugh out loud and moments that made me cry, a combination Rowley is adept at. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam / G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital review copy.

This is the story of 5 college friends who face the death of another friend and then form a pact to get together for each others funerals while they are still alive. Sounds weird and depressing but they are actually helping each other out and reminding each other they are loved. It’s full of quirky characters that feel real. Some of Rowley’s humor seeps through, but more of his wisdom. These are the kinds of friends you want to have for life.

You know those books that reach out and grab ahold of you and you keep thinking about long after they are gone? This is one of those books. It is full of characters that have issues, you know just like real life: People get divorced, and lose their parents and even get sick. Yet the journey those all these events makes the story worthwhile. Read this book, it is going to be a crowd-pleaser!

I adored Steven Rowley’s latest! What an interesting and unique premise of having a group of friends gather to have their funerals while they are living so that they can always know how much they are loved when they really need to hear it. I loved the aspect that they could invoke it when they needed it, when they were at a low. I loved the group of friends together and the idea that they kept getting back together years later after they graduated from college.

This book has Rowley’s wit, humor, insight and love. I truly enjoyed the story and would highly recommend it, especially if you’re going through a tough time and want some perspective.

This book felt like a great big hug. I loved the friendship aspect of this one. All 5 of the friends were so different but that’s what made them work so well together. This book touched on so many important top is but the most important was how vital it is to have good people in your corner. People that will show up unexpectedly when you need them. And be there for you no matter what. I loved this one!

I love Mr. Rowley’s writing but this one didn’t hit the same for me as The Gunkle. I mean i really wanted to like all the characters but aren’t people ever honest with each other in friendships?! Why do you hide so much of yourself from those you say you are closest to?

I tried really hard to enjoy this book. But I just couldn't find any likeability for the characters. They are flawed and filled with drama. Plus sadness. This book was not my cup of tea. It makes me sad because I loved the guncle.

Another winner from Steven Rowley! This was one of my most anticipated titles of the year and it lived up to my highest expectations. I loved the characters, the friendships, and, as always, Steven's trademark combination of wisdom, warmth, humor, and heart. I teared up multiple times and laughed on almost every page. This is a fast-paced book that will have wide appeal. Add in its great cover, title, and its oh-so-lovable author and this is going to fly off our shelves this summer.

Another amazing book from Steven Rowley. It was a bit of a slower start but then I loved it. The characters are all people you'd want to meet and know. I loved the pact and the end was just sobbbbbbs.

This was such a moving, poignant story filled with the perfect amount of humor and heart. I’ve come to expect nothing less from this author and was very touched by his latest novel. The Celebrants proves how important friendships are in your life and what an absolute blessing ‘found families’ can be during hardships.

A group of six friends are about to graduate together from UC Berkeley in the mid-nineties when one of them dies suddenly from a drug overdose. Mired in their grief, the remaining five friends vow to throw “living” funerals for each other throughout the coming years whenever one of them is at their lowest or simply feeling lost. The motive behind this pact is so none of them can ever question exactly what they meant to the others. ‘Leave nothing left unsaid’ becomes their motto.

Maybe I was too in my feelings on the day I read this part, but there was one particular quote that hit me hard and caused me to tearfully reflect on my own friendships:

"My point is, we were all figuring out this thing called life, and in truth we probably are still. But there is always someone a little further down the path, and if they have a kind heart, if they truly care about others, every so often they turn back and light the way.”

I can’t tell you how many kind, amazing friends I’ve met that have done just this—they saw me alone and struggling through some dilemma and they were generous enough to turn back, extend their hand, and guide me out of the darkness. There were many sections in this book that reminded me how fortunate I’ve been to have had such compassionate people in my life who support others and help their friends in need.

I know I shouldn’t compare the author’s works, but I do slightly prefer The Guncle over this one. There was something so irresistibly charming about his previous book and The Celebrants doesn’t have quite the same sparkle. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially those of us 35+ years old who have experienced the numerous ups and downs that life loves to throw our way.

US Release Date: May 30th, 2023.

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for an electronic Advanced Reader Copy of this title.

I absolutely loved The Guncle. Celebrants? Not so much! I even put off my reading of this determined to savour every word. Imagine my disappointment when I found I just wasn’t involved with the characters. They annoyed me. Seriously I found myself skimming over the text. Still, others obviously enjoyed Celebrants. Living funerals is an interesting idea and as I toddle off towards later times maybe something to consider even?
So food for thought even if the book didn’t quite grab me.

A Putnam invite ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

So this one is completely different from the author’s previous book Guncle. I loved that one so much, and the humor poured out in every conversation, every chapter in that book in-spite of the underlying theme of grief. The grief is the only common concept between these two books, and this one is based on experiencing their own funerals when alive, but during a low point in their lives. Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle form this unique pact where they can invoke their funerals at a time of their choice. I think this is just to remind the readers to live every moment of their lives, and constantly keep expressing things to their closed ones. The message was to not leave anything unsaid and it does deliver it but it took me a few sittings to get interested in this one. The first half was really slow and I didn’t experience that pull with the characters either but I pushed through it to find the author’s message. It is not a light read and it is supposed to make readers think about their lives as well!

THE CELEBRANTS is the latest novel by Steven Rowley, author of The Guncle, out May 30. After the unexpected death of one of their own at the end of college, a group of friends makes a pact to have their funerals before they die. Each friend can invoke the pact once and, without question, the others must come to celebrate the life of their friend. The novel flashes back to different points when the friends meet up in time while alternating chapters in the present follow one friend’s terminal cancer diagnosis.

When I first started this book and realized the concept, I thought it would be too heavy for me to read on vacation. The idea of a bunch of funerals didn’t sound like the happiest book. Leave it to Rowley to write a delightful, funny, charming, witty, heartwarming book that deals with serious issues like cancer and suicide and death. Though death is ever present in the novel it doesn’t take away from the really lovely story about a group of friends. The structure works well because the group meets up at several points for their “funerals” so we get these distinct episodes with a lot of humor. I really enjoyed the funny antics that the group gets up to, their friend dynamics, their connection. I love all of the pop culture references in the novel such as the “Courtney scale.” And I really loved how the chapters were titles with lyrics from Carpenters songs.

The end is bittersweet as you would expect and not surprising, but not too heavy either. I love stories about groups of adult friends and this one was a beautiful one. If you are looking to celebrate life and friendship and love, I suggest you check out THE CELEBRANTS as soon as it’s published.▪️

Steven Rowley has done it again! This incredibly story of friendship, love, loss and all the inbetween tugged at my heart. His characters always feel like friends. My takeaway from this book is that life is something that quickly passes us by, so, let's celebrate our people while we have them here on Earth.

Why do we wait to tell those we love what they mean to us until they are gone? This book was beautiful and unique look at death, but also life. Rowley gave us a very important reminder to tell our loved ones that we love them, that they matter, and WHY while we are still alive. I loved this book, and it will stick with me for a long, long time.