This is a book that takes on a rare form. A book in which you can tell immediately upon reading that it was born out of the love the author has in their heart. It is a love letter to nature.

This book struck me so deeply, because I have never noticed someone appreciate and give thanks to nature like this author does. Through the writing alone, you can sense the passion and artistry in their love for it. I especially loved the way Dr. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian credited nature in part for its healing properties in her quest to heal her trauma, but also acknowledging the comfort nature gave her in her queerness. This book is spectacular. I was astonished by so many lines and quotes, and this book has truly made me see nature is a different light. A non-judgemental one. The writing invokes clear mental imagery, and I felt myself hanging onto every word of the author. There are so many lessons hidden within the writing, and reading this book felt like I was actively making discoveries in my own nature of thinking. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt ostracized by society, felt rage and hurt for the existing systems of oppression, and those that have been oppressed. This book highlights that quiet rage. It repeatedly asks the question "what would the world be like, had colonization not happened?" If you want to learn something about nature, about science, about the roots of colonialism that are embedded in science, and life itself, read this book.

A huge thank you to Spiegel and Grau, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book blended three of my favorite things - Journals, Animals, and queerness! I had so much fun reading this!

Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s Forest Euphoria is part memoir, part natural history, part queer manifesto. The strongest passages braid her personal story—growing up queer, neurodivergent, and out of place—with the wild, unruly forms of life she found kinship with in swamps, fungi, and other overlooked species. Her fascination with the queer complexity of the natural world—fungi with thousands of sexes, intersex slugs courting with “love darts,” eels whose genders remain undetermined until late in life—offers a refreshing counter to rigid notions of what’s “natural.”

The book is wide-ranging, and that’s both its strength and its weakness. Some sections soar with lyricism and intimacy, while others read more like catalogued fact lists, and the momentum can falter. I found myself most drawn to the parts where Kaishian writes from lived experience, connecting her scientific work to her sense of belonging in nonhuman communities.

It’s a thoughtful, surprising book that reframes the natural world as a queer archive and, at its best, as a source of kinship and possibility.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 Stars – Lyrical, Radical, and Transformative

Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s Forest Euphoria is a stunning meditation on queerness, ecology, and the interconnectedness of life. Blending memoir, science, and philosophy, Kaishian reimagines how we see both the natural world and ourselves within it. The book challenges rigid categories—biological, cultural, and personal—offering instead a vision of nature as inherently fluid, diverse, and abundant in its queerness.

Kaishian’s prose is lyrical yet precise, weaving together mycology, ecology, and queer theory in a way that feels both deeply intellectual and profoundly intimate. Every chapter carries the rhythm of discovery, inviting the reader to reconsider what it means to belong, to grow, and to thrive in community with more-than-human life.

What makes Forest Euphoria so powerful is its generosity: it’s as much a love letter to queerness as it is to fungi, forests, and the strange beauty of the natural world. It’s rare to find a work that feels at once scholarly, poetic, and revolutionary, but Kaishian manages it effortlessly.

An inspiring and transformative book—essential reading for anyone interested in ecology, queer studies, or simply finding new ways of imagining life on this planet.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. This book was perfect. I loved how the author wove their own experiences with queer theory and ecology to tell a complete story about the queerness of nature. I'd call this a must-read for anyone who loves nature.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

In this book Kaishian produces a gorgeous blend of memoir and nonfiction that goes over her own epiphanies as a neurodiverse interracial queer person and explores the queerness present in natural locations. In particular, she explores the queerness of maligned beings such as fungi, crows, insects, and eels, comparing their otherness to that experienced by interracial and queer people.

Not only did this book teach me many new interesting facts about nature, but it also taught the importance of decolonized thinking, especially in science. As a not very scientific person myself (humanities have always been my safe space!), I was largely not aware how much of science is based in colonial hierarchical thought. I would love to read more by other scientists who break down such ideas and explore a more indigenous and collective mindset in scientific disciplines.

A beautiful, hopeful, and ocassionally haunting look into the interwoven societies of Nature, Humanity, and Queer Community. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishan's debut novel explores how connection and diversity forms us as species, and forms us personally as humans, interwoven with autobiographical anecdotes and supported by passionate prose.

Highly recommended for anyone who has ever felt that they are isolated from the wider world by being part of minorities, or for those for whom connection is the spider thread of hope.

I loved this! It took me a while to get through but I really enjoyed the accessible writing style and found it easy to keep up with.
It was meditative and authentic but also entertaining. I recommend this for any nature enthusiasts or readers interested in the queer experience.

I tried over a series of weeks to read this book and unfortunately it wasn't for me. I found it too academic for my taste and struggled to follow what was happening.

Therefore for me this was a "did not finish" book

I learned a lot of fun facts about fungi that I will be spouting off for the next several weeks. Unfortunately, the actual memoir parts were less enjoyable. The writing is beautiful but a lot of it felt artificially deep and in the end it really didn’t add much to the overall experience.

Still fun and now I’m inspired to find another book to explore more fungi lore.

I wish this had been marketed a bit differently. It definitely skews towards memoir over science which is what I had been expecting. Because of this, the tonal shifts made for a jarring reading experience (particularly early on when we went from critter at show in tell to being SA'd as a child).
Definitely not a bad book, just not what I thought I was sitting down for. I think if I reread it with this headspace it would be a more enjoyable read.

One part memoir, one part science lesson, one part queer theory, and all parts very good, Forest Euphoria is one mycologist's experience with all the weird parts of nature and how they helped her come to love herself too. Kaishian grew up in the woods and swamps, drawn to the things that other people didn't want to be near: mushrooms, slugs, crows, insects. She also grew up feeling like she was different from most of the people around her, maybe sharing more in common with her beloved fungi than people. As she learned more, she also learned that nature is a lot queerer than most of us know: fungi with dozens of sexes, intersex slugs, crows in same-sex relationships. This book describes her journey and teaches you really cool science stuff. Ten out of ten.

Author Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian grew up playing and exploring outside. Here, she fell in love with nature. Through snakes, snails, and fungi, she saw her own developing identity as a queer, neurodivergent person.
In this book, she introduces readers to various creatures that reflect her reality. The stories she tells can help others discover their realities, too.
I appreciated the scientific facts in this book and the personal stories. The content is sometimes dry, though, and meanders. However, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique way to uncover a unique look at diversity and discover queerness in nature.
Some of my favorite insights:
"...diversity is not only abundant in nature but is its very premise.”
"Disdain is such a pernicious emotion, whether it’s toward humans or insects. Insects, like 'othered' humans, are too often considered monstrous, haunting and unwanted. They are linked to insanity and psychological abnormalities; their modes of survival are unrecognizable to us and thus stripped of value."
“'Sit spots,' as they are commonly known, are natural places (though not necessarily remote) that one cultivates a long-term relationship with."

Forest Euphoria helped deepen my feelings of wonder and kinship with the natural world. It also taught me new things and reminded me of how nature can be a comfort during difficult times.

A wonderful book with a gentle and genuine tone of voice about the interdependence of all beings on this Earth. I absolutely appreciate the way the author told us this story in an open, honest, and vulnerable way.

There is so much to be said about this book, for me, the most pressing issue is how timely and yet ever-lasting this important message is in the words of yet another wise woman Vimalasara: 'We don't own the land, the land owns us.'
But of course, Forest Euphoria is about way more than soil. It is about the spores of mushrooms, the sun, air, and a bit of it about human beings being human.

For instance, there is the misconception that when we visit a forest we attend nature, as opposed to nature being all around us. Our garden is nature as well, we are nature as well.
No matter how you identify or feel at any given time, you might feel lonely, you might think you're imperfect, you might experience isolation (raising my hand at all three), this book can be your solace, telling you that you are not exactly alone.

I was hoping for something more like H is for Hawk- a mix of history, science and memoir. Unfortunately, this book is mostly memoir with the occasional notes of queer nature. I found the style quite jarring as it seems to mostly be stream of consciousness. It's unlikely I'll finish this.

First off this is a beautiful, captivating cover — an even better story inside! This is a gorgeous book. I’m so happy to have been able to read this mind expanding read

If I had a nickel for every time I read a phenomenal nonfiction that was a memoir mixed with the analysis of the inherent queerness in nature I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but amazing that it has happening twice. This book is just simply beautiful and was wonderful to read all of the different ways one could find themselves in nature during a time where others are trying to deny their existence.

I really enjoyed this book.
I loved the deep dive into the oft unloved parts of nature, and how that relates to queerness. I found the book a little slow in the middle, but I'm glad I persevered because the ending was lovely.

Very interesting book about queerness in nature. I loved how the author wove in her experience with what happens in nature. This was a perfect balance of art and science.