heypretty52's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief
Of the content warnings listed, all are handled with great care in a way that isn't overtly triggering to readers.jenabest's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
The Celebrants was one of my 2023 Most Anticipated Releases. After reading The Guncle, I fell in love with Rowley's writing style, and it's heartening to see that I stand by that decision.
The Celebrants will make you cry, and laugh, and then cry again. But at its core, this is not a novel about death, but about life and love.
I did rage at exactly one sentence in this story, describing a morning drive into San Francisco: "The drive into the city was smooth at that hour and they arrived with plenty of time to find parking"
Never, in all my visits to SF, did this ever seem remotely possible.
The Celebrants will make you cry, and laugh, and then cry again. But at its core, this is not a novel about death, but about life and love.
I did rage at exactly one sentence in this story, describing a morning drive into San Francisco: "The drive into the city was smooth at that hour and they arrived with plenty of time to find parking"
Never, in all my visits to SF, did this ever seem remotely possible.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Cancer
ggreen1379's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Drug use
redheadorganist's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
Moderate: Sexual content
kaitthelibrarian's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Cancer and Drug abuse
tacoshark's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I wanted to love this but I couldn’t quite get there. I enjoyed it and there were aspects that really worked well - but I found it a bit hard to buy these friendships, especially when they apparently went twenty years never or barely talking to each other. The set pieces worked, but the characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out to me - I think this book wanted another 100 pages to really fill in the spaces.
(Also I kept getting irrationally hung up on the extremely bad writing that was the repeated tagline: “leave nothing left unsaid.” Just say leave nothing unsaid! It’s so tortured! The first time I read it, I got hung up on it for five minutes and couldn’t get past it and then it came back like four more times. Terrible terrible writing.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer and Suicide
katiea714's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, Cancer, Drug abuse, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Suicide
staceen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
After the death of their friend, 5 college friends make a pact to hold living funerals for each other during the most challenging time of each of their lives. More melancholy than I was expecting from Stephen Rowley. Great characterization, but I would have loved more details about each (a 900 page book). There was lots of dry, witty humor and banter, but overall very serious, which was actually nice. I listened, and I think it deserves a text reread. The author does do a beautiful job with the audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Drug use and Cancer
melissa_h's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I wanted to love this book. I had loved this authors other works so much. And in the end, this was very disappointing. I Found most of the characters very irritating. I think the dynamic of them could have been used a lot better if the characters had been fleshed out more. Th last quarter of the book was the best, I finally felt genuine emotion and love between them.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Cancer
soobooksalot's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Celebrants involves a pact - helping a friend in crisis understand how much they are loved.
Steven Rowley's latest novel is for anyone with a supportive group of friends. For anyone who has experienced loss, pain, and love. Anyone who wants to experience warm humour, and life's realities.
The story of Marielle, Naomi, Craig and The Jordans is really for anyone.
I'm sitting with my feels on this one.
Recommended!
Steven Rowley's latest novel is for anyone with a supportive group of friends. For anyone who has experienced loss, pain, and love. Anyone who wants to experience warm humour, and life's realities.
The story of Marielle, Naomi, Craig and The Jordans is really for anyone.
I'm sitting with my feels on this one.
Recommended!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Grief