The Celebrants: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
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 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.
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 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.
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Community Reviews
This book wasn’t an awful as a two-star review suggests but major flaws kept it from being higher. The plot was clever to me, it just wasn’t executed well. The dialogue was cloying, as if it was someone trying to write dialogue rather than actual conversation. There was also far too much of it. The pickup of the book was so slow it led to some awkward pacing. It’s also awkward to me that a group SO focused on living life to its fullest, was something low-key obsessed with a friend who died decades ago. There also wasn’t enough development to make you feel like these friends were truly important to one another.
That aside, there were some golden moments. The calculation of Mia’s birth date by the group. Marielle’s conversation with Jordan when “all is revealed.” The “epilogue” of the book (last page).
There could have been something so strong here but it just didn’t have the execution needed to be that.
That aside, there were some golden moments. The calculation of Mia’s birth date by the group. Marielle’s conversation with Jordan when “all is revealed.” The “epilogue” of the book (last page).
There could have been something so strong here but it just didn’t have the execution needed to be that.
I read this sweet gem in one afternoon, very entertaining. I laughed out loud & I cried. A heartfelt and hilarious story of friendship.
This book has been on pre-order since December, and I literally screamed when I was approved for the E-ARC.
The Celebrants follows a group of friends celebrating three decades of being in each other lives.. Every year they get together to remind them that life is worth a party. This tradition was started after they lost one of their closest friends in college, Alec.
Meet the cast:
The Jordan's - Jordan & Jordy with ones life on a final countdown.
Craig - An art dealer who's found himself in a world of trouble.
Naomi - Struggling with grief after the loss of her parents
Marielle - A single mother who hasn't been truly honest about the father of her 22 year-old daughter.
I absolutely loved the fact that this novel featured middle-aged characters. There were fun, silly, heartfelt moments as the reader read glimpses into each of their lives over the years. I adored these characters, and got emotional multiple points throughout the story. I'll take a GIANT deep breath after the ending.
I will always read Rowley, as he's two-for-two with 5-star reads with me.
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