Who Would Like This Book:
Steven Rowley brings together nostalgia, humor, and emotional depth in this heartwarming story about college friends who reunite over the years to support one another during life’s toughest moments. If you enjoy stories celebrating complicated, enduring friendships and don’t mind shedding a few tears along the way, this book is for you. Fans of "The Big Chill" will appreciate the dynamics and realness, while those who love honest explorations of aging, loss, and second chances will find a lot to connect with here.
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you prefer action-packed stories or need to adore every character to stay engaged, this one might test your patience. Some readers found parts of the book slow and struggled to warm up to certain characters or their dynamics. The back-and-forth timeline can also be a bit confusing, and the emotional intensity or the character flaws might not be for everyone.
About:
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley follows the lives of five university friends who form a close bond and make a pact to support each other through life's challenges. As they reunite over the years, they face personal hardships, loss, and grief, all while celebrating the gift of friendship. The narrative weaves through multiple perspectives and timelines, showcasing the enduring power of friendship and the ways in which it helps the characters navigate the complexities of adulthood.
The story delves into themes of self-discovery, grief, and the importance of human connection. With a mix of humor and heart, Steven Rowley explores the deep bonds that tie the characters together, highlighting the beauty of friendship in the face of life's trials and tribulations.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book includes themes of grief, loss, and possibly emotional distress related to life crises.
From The Publisher:
New York Times Bestseller
A TODAY Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick
A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises-especially to ourselves-by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.
It's been a minute-or five years-since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation from Berkeley when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they've reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living "funerals," celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living-that their lives mean something, to one another if not to themselves.
But this reunion is different. They're not gathered as they were to bolster Marielle as her marriage crumbled, to lift Naomi after her parents died, or to intervene when Craig pleaded guilty to art fraud. This time, Jordan is sitting on a secret that will upend their pact.
A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, coupled with Steven Rowley's signature humor and heart, The Celebrants is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living.
Ratings (9)
Loved It (5) | |
Liked It (3) | |
It Was OK (1) |
Reader Stats (28):
Read It (10) | |
Want To Read (15) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (2) |
1 comment(s)
I loved all the characters in this book. While the story itself wasn’t particularly dramatic or thrilling, I enjoyed the banter between all the characters. I cried by the end. I would read another hundred pages about the celebrants’ different get togethers.
What can you read after
The Celebrants?
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