Thank you to the publisher for a free netgalley. 

Not going to lie. I went into this with low expectations because I kept seeing not great reviews. After reading, I feel as if people went into this thinking it would be like the Guncle. The Guncle had heavy moments, but The Celebrants is heavy from start to finish. 

We follow a group of 5 (were 6), and at their friend's funeral they decide that each one of them gets one funeral while they are alive. This is when they need it. When they're having a moment in life where they feel at the bottom. 

While the story begins, it floats back and forth between the Jordans (present time) and the past. The past includes some college life. Then throughout the book, we get closer to 2023. Between the present day Jordans chapters, we get to see when each friend pulls the funeral card. 

I thought this book was amazing to be honest. I loved the story and I found myself getting emotional at each "funeral".

Why I took one star was the format. The section for each funeral was long. And I am fine with that. But instead of making chapters inside each section, Rowley wrote them as one long chapter. So I felt like there was not a good place to stop. I can see why this turns readers off as 40 page chapters don't do it for a lot of people. 

But I recommend. I think this is a great story about friendship and how life changes but those friendships can last.