It was an amazing experience being able to get this e-arc after my "the guncle" reading. this book is entirely different from the debut Rowley's book but, at the same time, it has the same persona and structures from Rowley's writing.
this book was such an amazing read. can't wait to people get hands on this book. it's really good.

I was really looking forward to reading Rowley’s next book because I adored The Guncle from last year. He’s such a talented writer but this story didn’t hit me like Guncle did. I think the subject matter was tougher for me to get into. The writing and characters are superb though. Four stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was beautiful. An ode to friendship & growing up. A must read!

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review

Steven Rowley has such a way with words and this book is no exception. I loved all the characters, the sentiment behind the book, and the way it was funny and enjoyable to read while also talking about some tough subjects. When you hear it’s a book about having mini funerals, you don’t expect to be laughing and still loving the book so much. Highly recommend!

After the loss of Alec at the end of college, the rest of the crew forms a pact. When they need it, they can enact their living funeral. Everyone will come from wherever they are, and tell that person how much they mean to them.

Thats a short synopsis because I have a lot to say. Obviously you all already know my love for The Uncle. I picked this one up because in December, my friend and the person I considered a second mom began to lose her 20 year battle with breast cancer. Having beat it twice, I was hopeful she would prevail again, but cancer fucking sucks. She officially lost her battle in January, but when we found out she was reaching the end I was able to text her daughter and have her read to her mom how much she meant to me, and how much of an effect she has had on my life. I so wished I could jump on a plane to see her but it just wasn’t possible. I did take solace in the fact that before she left this world, she knew my heart. When I found out she had passed, I felt like this book was the perfect one to read during that time. Not just because it is Steven Rowley and guaranteed to be good, but because of synopsis as well. I loved every second of this book. The writing as always was spectacular, and the story was heartbreaking yet heartwarming at the same time. I am not going to go into a crazy review, because you just need to read it, but this book has left me thinking a lot about how we don’t tell people what they mean to us until it’s too late. So this is your reminder. Text that friend you don’t talk to often, call your family, give your loved one an extra hug. Make sure the people you love know just how much!

Friends since college, this group reunites in Big Sur to honor a decade old pact to throw each other living "funerals." This time will be different though as Jordan has a secret that will rock their worlds. You will alternate between laughing and crying with the one. . A story about youth, friendship, and becoming an adult.

I have a new favorite Rowley book and this is it! I was drawn in right away. The characters were well developed, real and personable. The concept of calling for your own funeral when you need your friends to hold you up is a great one. I was bracing myself the whole book, knowing how it was inevitably going to end but it was delicately done and the tears were held at bay. If I wasn’t already, I would definitely be a Steven Rowley fan now!

I was gifted this advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback, all opinions are my own.

I loved The Guncle when I read it last year so I was so excited to receive an ARC of Steven Rowley's novel The Celebrants.

I was hoping this would be warm, funny and touching like The Guncle. Though not as funny I would say that warm and touching are definitely checked off.

It is a story of college friends who make a pact to hold living funerals anytime one of them says the word. The theme and reason is so that you never leave anything unsaid.

The book flowed well and focused on each event that triggers one of the group to call on the pact

Emotional, charming, and funny in all the right moments! I throughly enjoyed The Celebrants! Steven Rowley does an outstanding job of diving into the intricacies of each character in the friend group while taking us on a journey of grief, growth, and love. If you loved The Guncle, you will love this too!

I was hopeful that this would be just like The Guncle- a warm, funny book. It was not nearly as funny as I hoped but that is ok because The Celebrants was lovely. It is a story of college friends who come together anytime one of them says the word. When they reunite, they have a type of funeral for the living person. I wasn't sure I identified with any of the characters at first, but I grew to be invested in what happened..

I have adored every novel Steven Rowley has written! That being said, it should come as no surprise that his latest novel The Celebrants has completely wow’ed me! This character-driven story follows a group of friends who met in college and formed an unbreakable bond. For the last 30(ish) years the crew have had a pact to celebrate each other by having “funerals” while they are living. The idea behind the “living funerals” is for your friends to convey to you what they mean to you while you’re alive— honestly, this concept grabbed me by the heart and I was hooked from the very first chapter! I love how Steven Rowley masterfully develops his character to the point you feel like you know them in real life! The entire cast of characters leave a lasting imprint and the storyline is one that will absolutely stay with you! The Celebrants is a 5 star novel that will most definitely be on my 2023 favorites list. I am already excited to read what Steven Rowley comes out with next!

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley is a modern and quirky tale of a group of friends that couldn’t be more different from one another, and the pact they make after the death of their friend near college graduation. The novel follows the group as their paths diverge and rejoin over the span of several decades. Steven Rowley delivers a poignant and humorous story that will keep readers engaged until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 Stars!

I did not realize this was the same author who wrote Guncle, and I remembered that i loved that book so much when I read it last year, so of course I loved this too. Steven Rowley is a an author to watch out for, his writing is like none other I have read before.

Think of this book as a modern Big Chill retelling, very sentimental and ironically entertaining! The story follows three decades of friendship. At the 28th anniversary of their friendship, Jordans Craig , Naomi , Marielle ( are gathered again in Big Sur to celebrate another funeral. That’s their tradition to celebrate the life after they’ve lost their college friend Alec at the age of 22!

I do not want to give much away, do yourself a favor and go read this book! It was so heartfelt and wholesome! The character building is amaing! Each of the characters were uniquely developed and you find yourself emotionally

I LOVED "The Guncle" so was excited to see a new book by Steven Rowley coming out. The cover is beautiful also.

This book didn't sneak into my heart the way The Guncle did though. I almost DNFed it & if it had not been a NetGalley book for review, I may have.

Review contains spoilers.

I was intrigued by the premise & have sometimes thought this before as well -- would it not be more wonderful to show up for the people you love, when you're all still alive to tell them how important they are, rather than at a funeral? If you think about modern society, we all go along saying we're too busy, too busy, too busy - but we will drop everything to get to an important funeral. Why wasn't it more important to go see that person when they were living?

However, I really, really couldn't get into this book -- the characters all felt superficial, like we were just skimming along on the surface of their lives. They tell us stuff, but don't really show us any feeling or depth to their characters & lives. I think the most annoying facet of the book was the dialogue - whenever this group of friends got together, it never seemed like they actually talked with each other -- there were some random trivia factoids, a few non-sequiturs, and then someone would yell something (e.g. "I KNOW WHERE DUBROVNIK IS!" or "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT" or "OH MY GOD!"). It was like no one ever actually had a real conversation or the author was looking for random trivia tidbits with which to fill the pages. I kept thinking - do these people actually know each other? like each other? grow in relation to each other? And despite their pact to 'leave nothing unsaid' - whenever they got together, they devolved into these non-conversations and trite sayings at their friends' 'funerals'.

And don't even get me started on the Naomi chapter -- wherein she drunkenly decides they'll all go skydiving, then tries to seduce the pilot while he's flying the plane in a VERY weird way (is this meant to be funny? sad? pathetic?), then forcibly decides NOT to skydive, herself, after everyone else does. Just....WTAF was this? I guess I didn't get it.

The one shining moment in this book was the chapter near the end when Jordan surprises Jordy with the Alcatraz swim -- this chapter really gripped me -- Jordy's feelings as he was swimming, Jordan's fears on the shore as he tried to give his husband a fresh start, or a memory that can eventually give him a fresh start, while also facing his own death. This chapter was beautiful and then looking back at the rest of the book, I think it was the brief windows into Jordan & Jordy's life that felt the most vivid (least skimmed over?) of all the characters. I think I wish Rowley and his editor had picked this apart a bit more and focused on the Jordan & Jordy story -- maybe even continuing after Jordan's death.... and the rest of the gang become secondary characters in their story? What do I know, I'm not an editor. But, this is my review.

I thought this was a beautiful sentiment: "...grief can be a prison. And some day in the future I wanted him to look back on this day and remember that he has the strength to break free."

I think there's a bunch of other stuff I kind of want to rant about in this book, but will end with just one last peeve - what are you saying with these microphthalmic kittens? That we're all just bumbling blindly through life? What is with this? It feels blatantly obvious and annoyingly obtuse all at the same time. Urhghghg.

I love books that are centered around friend groups, and this is one of the better friend group novels that I have read recently! I adored the concept of the book, and the characters were witty as well as interesting. This is the first novel I have read by Steven Rowley but plan to read Guncle next because I enjoyed this one so thoroughly. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley!

I enjoyed the concept of this book - five friends throwing "celebration" funerals together but I struggled with a few things like the narration and the plot. First the narration - this book is written in third person but has an omni=present narrator that also gives you the character's thoughts. I found this really confusing and it made it hard to keep track of both the conversation and who was "narrating" at a specific time because it would switch mid conversation or paragraph. It also didn't help that two of the main character were named Jordon, It seems like that was done for comedic purposes but it fell flat and again added to the confusion.

Second issue for me was the plot. I liked the concept, but I didn't think that we were given enough character background and and introduction at the start of the story so it made it really difficult to be invested. They are all very flawed, and unfortunately in my opinion a lot of them came across very immature and whinny. There was a lot of "OH MY GOD STOP" that sounded more like a teenager than a grown adult.

This book had a lot of potential with a great takeaway for the reader, unfortunately the development of the story, lack of character growth, and several questionable plot twists left the whole thing rather dull for me and it's not something I would recommend to my friends.

I only spent a few hours with these characters but their lives and love for each other felt so real. I wouldn’t have sobbed my way through the final section if they hadn’t. Not a fun light read (though very funny), but so worth spending time with.

The previous review was submitted in error, Here is my review of The Celebrants.

I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.
I hate when a book I’m reading makes me feel stupid. In the case of The Celebrants it did so twice – first when I didn’t get the pun of the house at Big Sur called Sur La Vie and the second when I couldn’t differentiate between two characters with the same name, a couple called either Jordan or Jordy. So which one was the swimmer? And which one was the Columbian? And which one had cancer? The characters are different but the conceit of having them have the same name tends to confuse (at least to confuse me.) And it took me to the end before I got the Sur La Vie pun. Sadly, I rated this book only three stars.
In this story of five Berkley dorm-mates, (there were six but one died before the novel starts) the college friends decide on a pact where each of them, in a crisis situation, can request that the others hold a funeral while they’re still alive. The novel has humor and a number of quotable quotes. So why did I find it so easy to put down and so hard to pick up again? Perhaps it was my mood during a rainy spell? Or perhaps I didn’t like it as well as Lily and the Octopus, which I loved!
Because Rowley is a fine writer I stuck with it. It almost took off near the end during the description of an exciting Escape from Alcatraz swimming race. Then it ended, rather flatly, at least for me.
I’d like to think NetGalley and Putnam’s for allowing me to read this pre-publication copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Celebrants is very different from Rowley’s last book, Guncle. This book has humor and sadness, which portrays the reality of our lives. This book follows a group of former college roommates/friends, that lost one of their friends, Alex unexpectedly. This made them create a pact, to stay in contact with each other and each of them would be able to ignite the pact by having a living funeral. This living funeral would be a time when that person could be appreciated as they are alive rather than after they have passed. Years have gone by and most of the group has had minimal contact when one of the members ignites the pact, and brings the members back together.

I enjoyed this book, I liked the ideas of the living funerals. The concept of telling people you love, that you care about them while you are alive.

The gang is reunited once again, just as they have several times over the years to throw a funeral for a living member of the group. They held a funeral for Marielle when her marriage ended, for Craig when he pled guilty to art fraud and of course there was the original funeral but that one was real. This time a mystery from the past might tear the group apart forever. The Celebrants tells the story of friendship, love and loss that crosses decades.