A very unique and unusual book - this is a blend of memoir, philosophy and scientific information.

The author takes us on the journey of her life, as she comes to understand her place in the queerness of the world, while sharing and explaining the joys of nature and its variations around her. As she discovered snakes, snails, eels, and especially fungi and the many ways in which there are more than two sexes, or sexes that are fluid, she followed a path that led to her understanding herself and also led her down the path of being a mycologist and immersed in the science of nature.

I enjoyed the scientific facts and all the wonderful and fascinating information about many different species, a lot of them ones that typically do not get attention. I loved the concept of a 'sit spot' and slowing down to appreciate the changes in nature that happen all around us.

To be honest, I enjoyed the scientific side of the book a little more than the memoir.

This is a beautifully written memoir that fundamentally shifted how I view nature. I’ve always been troubled by hegemonic ideals of human dominion over animals - I grew up as an only child in a house full of animals with whom I developed a deep relationship throughout my childhood. Simply put, the idea that humans are somehow more advanced than our animal friends never rang true. As a mycologist, Kaishian takes this to the next level, arguing for the profound beauty of beings only visible using specialized microscopes. Her ode to our planet presents a foundational challenge to existing survival of the fittest frameworks designed to perpetuate a patriarchal, capitalist status quo.

Forest Euphoria isn’t structured how I anticipated a “science book” would be, with discrete chapters dedicated to different species. Rather, it reads like a walk through a forest, spiraling through the micro and macro organisms present alongside us. Although informative, the book lacks a didactic tone and falls more into the memoir class rather than traditional pop science literature.

To say Kaishian is passionate about the topic feels like an understatement - her love of our planet oozes through the pages. To be clear, this is a very “woke” book that frequently calls out colonialism, whiteness, etc. I do wonder if some readers less familiar with these discourses may not fully appreciate the connections between social discord and the natural phenomena the book cites. In other words, I don’t know if every reader will “buy” into her ideas. Nevertheless, I’m confident readers of all stripes will leave this book feeling far richer for it.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for this ARC. It is a treasure.

I loved this work of memoir/natural history/mycology/queer theory...yeah, it's all of them and more. Kaishian covers an astonishingly broad range of events, creatures, and environments, but makes it seem effortless to connect it all and, what's more, to make it so deeply personal AND relatable. This is going to be a favorite recommendation for queer book clubs. The appeal won't end there though--any readers of environmental science, memoir, or decolonization will find it engaging.

An excellent read! A blend of natural science, personal narrative and philosophy.

Pick this up if you want:
- an affirmation that nature is full of queerness
- a passionate defense of community, companionship, cohabitation and cooperation
- a critique of biased science based on competition and hierarchy (with humans on top)
- a soothing guide how to be present in nature and notice more of life around you
- a wealth of fascinating facts about fungi, snakes, corvids, insects and other often overlooked animals
- a relatable memoir of a queer mycologist

I hope it will be also available as an audiobook, it would be a lovely companion for walks.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC!

Forest Euphoria is a memoir that covers the experience of the author as a queer person from childhood to adulthood and work as a mycologist. The format is 50% memoir and 50% biology and history textbook. It was fun to learn some new facts and it kept my interest as an environmental science major!

This books feels like a journal in that the topics bounce from one to the other. One minute the author is discussing their graduate work then switches to a history lesson on crows and then how it all relates to queer culture. I wish there was a little more structure to the chapters and topics covered.

TW: childhood sexual assault

This is a unique and beautiful memoir crossed with science and nature writing. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian focuses on exploring culture, queerness, and the interconnected and interdependent nature of… well, everything. She artfully blends story and science throughout the book, making for an intriguing read.

Forest Euphoria is meandering in the best way possible, almost as if we’re taking a walk or drive across the nation and time together. We discover cicadas, eels, crows, fungi, and others that have been maligned, feared, or misunderstood throughout history. I loved it and highly recommend it!

Forest Euphoria is a beautiful, strange, and deeply personal book that blends science, memoir, and queer ecology in a way that’s totally unique. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, a queer mycologist, invites readers into her world. A world where fungi have thousands of sexes, slugs stab each other with “love darts,” and queerness isn’t an exception in nature, but a rule.

What makes this book stand out is how it zooms in on the often-overlooked, slimy, or “weird” parts of the natural world and treats them with so much respect and care. One moment that stuck with me was Kaishian describing glass eels, creatures that don’t even settle on a sex until the end of their lives. Another was her reflection on “sit spots” which is choosing one place in nature to visit again and again, and letting your relationship with it deepen over time. It’s simple, grounding, and oddly moving.

Some chapters meander a bit, and the structure is more fluid than linear, but that actually fits with the book’s overall theme: resisting tidy boxes and binaries. This isn’t just about fungi or queerness. It’s about connection, transformation, and letting things be wild, weird, and wondrous. Definitely worth the read.

I enjoyed the mix of mycology and memoir with this book, but struggled to fully immerse myself in it. I felt there wasn’t much structure or narrative to follow, and a lack of illustration meant I kept pausing to look up what particular specimens looked like to fully appreciate the context, which took me out of the reading experience. I enjoyed the writing but perhaps not the format.

DNF @ 25%.

I tried, I really did. I liked the concept of this book but it was way more memoir than I expected. The problem for me was when the author unexpectedly brought up the story of their childhood sexual assault at the doctor's office. As a sexual assault survivor, I was unprepared and this was unwelcome. I tried to move on, but because this book is half memoir, I couldn't really just skip the personal stuff. Tonight I am DNF'ing it because I'm tired and life is too short to push myself to read a book that I find myself dreading.

With a TW for childhood sexual abuse, I think that this book would be fine for the right reader. I was looking for more science, less memoir, and this was not what I wanted.

Thanks to Netgalley and Spiegel & Grau for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, Patricia Kaishian, and Spiegel & Grau for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book!

Wow, I loved this book SO MUCH. As I was reading it I kept repeating to myself, "I'll be reading this book again" or "I need to own a physical copy so I can underline everything." This is exactly the book I needed to read as a neurodivergent, queer, justice-oriented lover of nature and ecology. It's a wonderful blend of memoir, science, and nature writing. It's a tough time to love the earth and all its inhabitants right now but this book gave me much-needed hope and a framework for living.

I do hope the final copy of the text includes a content warning for assault and I would caution sensitive readers to be prepared when reading.

Immediately adding this title to my list of favorite books!

Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian, thanks to the summary I was led to believe this book was about homosexual and multi gendered species in nature but what we got instead is a biography of a queer scientist who grew up in New York State. her love for nature started at a young age even snakes were like neighbors she didn’t know but saw frequently enough she waived at them on her way to school. She swam with nature and that is where she got to know herself something that would be an evolving process throughout her life until today. she told us about transgender fungi mushrooms eels and so much more. Although this wasn’t the book I thought I would be reading and I am not a big fan of autobiographies or biographies this one was OK. I am no way shape or form believe she swam with the very deadly copperhead snakes as she stated in her book and found some of what she wrote to be a little woo woo but everything about the germs and the fungus and other things we’re very interesting. I’m not saying she isn’t a reliable narrator I just think anyone who feels comfortable enough to swim in a lake with copperhead snakes may need psychiatric assistance. I think if you like biographies in autobiographies mixed with the little scientific fact then you will definitely enjoy this book I thought it was OK and totally worth recommending.#NetGalley, #SpiegelAndGrowl, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,#PatriciaOnoniwuKaishian , #ForestEuphoria,

I love this. I have recently gotten more into nonfiction, specifically nature books, and I breezed right through this one, I didn't want to put it down! Seriously lovely and hopeful, and I learned a lot! Definitely going to be recommending this one.

[4.5] what a lovely, timely book! I could easily see this book being one that I return to frequently. In these very scary times right now, it's nice to be reminded that queerness is all around us! it has always been there and will always be there - no matter how hard they try to trample on it.

this book blends memoir with unique essays about queerness in nature and connects the anecdotes beautifully. I was equally interested in the author's stories as I was the hard science portions. It never felt too complicated or out of reach - and I am not a science-minded person. It was perfectly readable!

I highly recommend this book as a balm for the current times - I know this will be one I gift to my loved ones regularly.

I did DNF about a quarter of the way in. Couldn't handle the psychedelics mentions, but what I read so far what interesting and well written. I like the writing style!

A coming of age story mixed with anecdotes about the queerness of earth’s smallest, but perhaps most important organisms. Mycologist Kaishain uses this book to teach about fungus and tell of her own queer journey.

I’m split on how to review this book. I did really like some of it and other parts seemed to drag. I also got a bit dizzy from the constant back and forth from Kaishain’s scientific explanations then swerving to a personal story from her life. I was also hoping for more biology throughout the book.

Still, Kaishain is an able writer with more than one story to tell. This book wasn’t for me, but I would recommend to anyone searching for a unique blend of autobiography and science.

Thank you to Netgalley and Spiegel & Grau for the gifted eARC.

Forest Euphoria was not a book on my radar, but the name and synopsis had me curious enough to give it a try. I am so glad I did. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
is a queet Mycologist and a descendant of survivors of the Armenia genocide. While the book focuses heavily on the connection between nature and queerness, much of the book reads like a memoir. Robin Wall Kimmerer immediately came to mind as I was reading, so it was unsurprising to see the profound impact her work had on the author.

The book is loosely structured so that each chapter tells the story of a specific part of nature, whether fungi, eels, or entire ecosystems. I say loosely because so much of this book argues against the use of arbitrary binaries and putting things into meaningless boxes, and the books structure is included in that. And yet, each chapter drew me in, told me a story, and left me thinking for days. I had to read this books slowly to fully digest all the wisdom and euphoria it had to offer. While many parts of the book speak directly into the literal queerness of nature (intersex eels and slugs, fungi existing well outside of any gender binary, etc), the word queer is used in a more inclusive sense: "queerness invites us all, regardless of our identities, to be more undefined, unclear, transitional, merging, interdependent, cooperative, and nonhierarchical— a very fungal way of being."

The authors experience as being a descendant of Armenian genocide survivors provides a unique lens that I have often found missing in queer ecology discourse. There is an undeniable impact between colonialism, genocide, and the state of nature today (and of course, humans are included under the umbrella term nature). The commentary around this was profound and heartbreaking. It is also impossible to apply Kaishian's lessons to the multiple genocides being enacted today. "During genocide and colonization, victims feel their lost connection to the landscape and this deep-time relationship to place in their bodies. Not only do they grieve the loss of human life, but survivors will commonly reference the loss of companion species in the same breath, inflected with the same pain." While Kaishian speaks of the destruction of Armenian Mulbery trees and the slaughtering of buffalo on Turtle Island, I think olive trees bulldozed and strawberry fields leveled under bombs.

I was quite amazed by the level of emotion this book provoked in me. At times, I felt extremely sad, found myself laughing and delighted, but overall very hopeful. This book was a balm in my soul and will be for many in such a dark year. Highly recommend.

This was a truly rich and fascinating look at the nature all around us. I absolutely love the focus on the fact that nature doesn't follow human standards, and that includes reproductive methods! Fungi are some of the coolest organisms I've encountered, and I loved reading this perspective of it.

This was definitely an amazing tale of childhood and connection to nature.

This is just a delight of curiosities and love of the earth. I thoroughly enjoyed this and some of the tidbits that I learned.

A Lush, Thought-Provoking Celebration of Nature and Fungi

Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian is a mesmerizing and deeply insightful exploration of the natural world, blending science, philosophy, and poetry in a way that is both accessible and profoundly moving. Kaishian’s ability to weave ecological knowledge with a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of all living things is enthralling.

Her writing is rich and evocative, transporting readers into the hidden wonders of fungi and forests, revealing how these often-overlooked organisms shape our world in ways both grand and microscopic.

This book is perfect for nature lovers, science enthusiasts, and anyone who finds solace in the beauty of the natural world. Kaishian’s passion is infectious, making Forest Euphoria a joy to read and a reminder of the magic that exists all around us. Highly recommended for those who love books that expand the mind and nourish the soul.

This book is... WOW. It's a euphoric experience to read and is literally on the short list of books that have affected me so profoundly along with the work of Banu Subramaniam and Robin Wall Kimmerer. Books like this will completely challenge and change how you see the world -- or at the very least, how you experience nature. I've highlighted the heck out of it and cannot wait for its publication so I can add a hard copy to my personal library.

Although this is a fantastic read for the layperson and I'm aware she's written some academic texts, this is also a wonderful text for students, especially those being introduced to queer theory and feminist science studies. Interspersed with personal anecdotes and stories from the author's past are observations that are just... mindboggling in their simplicity and truth, despite the fact that many would consider this "radical" thinking if they ever consider it at all. It's not.

I'll be recommending this book to as many people as I possibly can. IT IS A MUST-READ.

Netgalley, I can't thank you enough for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review, and for introducing me to one of my new favorite authors and thinkers. I'm thoroughly in awe. I'm changed.

The best part? I'm not even done yet.