A Five-Star Book Review: The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

Steven Rowley has been an auto-buy author for me since I read The Guncle back in 2021. (If you haven’t read that glorious book, stop right now and get yourself a copy. You must meet GUP. Read my review here.) His characters are complicated and well-developed, his descriptions vivid, and his stories unique while touching at the same time. The Celebrants is no different, and here’s why I give Mr. Rowley’s newest novel a full five stars.

Five Stars for The Celebrants

• The Story: The Celebrants captures the message that you should tell people how much they mean to you while they’re living, not at their gravesides. After losing one of their own to death by suicide in college, a group of five best friends starts a pact: each one may call the others together for a “living funeral” at their time of crisis to help reinforce the value of each other in their lives. I love this concept because it’s so important to tell people how important they are each day, rather than wait until they can’t hear you any longer.
• The Dialogue: Mr. Rowley crystallized each living funeral and the flashbacks to each character’s time of need, and he did that with sharp dialogue and wit that showed each character’s personality and pain. I loved the banter and the monologues.
• The Resolution: The Celebrants ends in a heartbreaking and life-affirming manner. I won’t spoil the ending, but I though the resolution of the group’s pact for living funerals was perfect.

Now I have to wait in anticipation for a new book from this favorite author. Bookish problems, right? Who are some of your auto-buy authors?