 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley was basically created to hit me right in the feels. I’m convinced. A story of college friends who gather intermittently to host fake funerals for each other—where they genuinely share & talk & remind each other of their sustaining friendship, despite the distance between them—this book dared me not to feel the heavy weight & gratitude of my own lifelong friendships. Addressing drug overdose and cancer among other topics, this read can make you feel grief & loss. But more than that, it’s about life & love & friendship, & the bonds that people can make & choose to perpetuate, even when life takes us in different directions. Previously, friends have recommended The Guncle & after reading this one, I’m even more excited to check it out. I absolutely loved every page of this bright & shining book & wish I could give the characters—so lovely, so human, so forgiving, & so deserving of love—& my own friends—hugs. 5⭐️. Out 05/30. CW: reference to Alec’s drug use. Jordan’s cancer. Other deaths mentioned. Describes finding Alec’s body. Reference to a secondary character’s HIV diagnosis.
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 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.It’s been several years since I’ve read an Alice Hoffman book but I’ve always loved her striking & thoughtful writing style & how she infuses her powerful stories with magic. The Invisible Hour is another story in that vein, with a story that celebrates books & bravery & love, especially that of a mother for her daughter. Playing with time, the book offers several different perspectives & time periods. When the book opens, Mia Jacob is leaving the community where she’s lived her entire life, under the thumb of her adopted father who is also the strict leader of the community. Despite its strictures, Mia has found solace before in books—especially The Scarlet Letter—& in her mother, whom she had a secret bond with. But now her mother is dead. In the outside world, Mia forms new relationships, deals with the lingering threat of the community leader, & is haunted still by the words of Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose work offers her so much. This fixation on Nathaniel Hawthorne struck me as a bit odd in moments but overall it adds another haunting note to a story of love & sacrifice & freedom. There’s a compelling parallel between Hawthorne’s time period & Mia’s life in the Community. Though I found the story of motherly love & self-freedom inspiring, I also wanted more from Mia’s story itself. Some final, permanent proof that she would actually give herself the life she deserves on a daily basis. But this story raises some captivating points & as always, I was moved by Alice Hoffman’s voice. 4⭐️. Out 08/15.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
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