Forest Euphoria is a book that defies categorization. This is a thoughtful and contemplative memoir that touches on science (botany, zoology, biology, ecology, geology...), history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology among others and then intersections between them. Kaishian talks about finding her space in the world literally and figuratively inviting the reader to consider a new framework for understanding how we fit into the natural environment, one that isn't necessarily mainstream though coming more to the forefront as we confront the impacts of and human role in climate change. Kaishian highlights parts of the plant and animal world that are often overlooked like lichen or eels or even vilified like fungi and snakes and her enthusiasm and excitement for what they do and how they contribute is infectious. While it's much more common to relegate the natural world into clean and neat boxes, Kaishian shows that there's a lot of fluidity, change and adaptation among lifeforms, something to acknowledge and celebrate. She leaves you with a lot to think about while leaving you space to appreciate the things around you. I found that she jumped from idea to idea throughout Forest Euphoria which sometimes disrupted the flow for me as a reader, but this also reflected how her mind connects points that might not be initially obvious. Overall I learned a lot and I'm excited that authors like Kaishian and Robin Wall Kimmerer (referred to several times in this book) are sharing a different worldview that will allow us to take better care of our environment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for the e-arc!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I decided to step out of my comfort zone (which lately consists mainly of historical fiction) and read something new and different through NetGalley. I am glad that I did. As a physician and former biochemist, I tend to take a pragmatic view of most things but I must say the author did a nice job of opening my eyes to the fluidity of nature and all things around us. This introspective book looks at nature from a different point of view; personally, curiously, spiritually, and cosmically without being too patronizing or preachy. The author, as a neurodivergent individual, explores her own inner self-questioning through her intensely personal relationship with nature or as she calls it 'eco-spirituality'. I suspect writing this was a cathartic experience for her. The book is well written and engaging, the bibliography at the end excellent, and despite being sometimes overly detailed, gave me new information about all sorts of fascinating creatures in nature and hopefully a better overall worldview.

A delightful book that is part memoir, part nature documentary. A lot to love about this book! Perfect for those who are queer and love nature!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Absolutely adored the exploration of queer natures here, from eel reproduction to miniature fungi to the questions brought up by the author. Will be recommending this book to anyone interested in the intersection of nature and culture, as well as anyone interested in personal essays which involve scientific facts. So pleased to get to read this before publication! Was a quick read, too—the voice is highly compelling. 5/5 stars.

A beautiful and informative look into nature, and a reminder that things deemed "unnatural" by some, are just as natural as warmth from the sun and breaths from a creature.
I highly recommend reading this, even if you are just slightly intrigued by either studies of animals or sexuality and gender studies!

This book offers a compelling blend of memoir, social commentary, and nature writing, though it diverges from its synopsis by focusing more on queerness in science than in nature. Kaishian’s writing is insightful and beautifully crafted, making sharp intersectional critiques of the scientific community. However, the balance between science and social analysis feels uneven—more nature-based examples could have strengthened the arguments and allowed readers space for their own interpretations.

Thanks to Net-Galley for providing this Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book gifted me words for feelings that have remained vague and unnamed in my life. The practice of a “sit spot”, for example, and the experience of being “queer to a place.” The book also explored concepts that I crave reading about, like the joy of finding companionship with creatures that are sometimes a lil too much on the tiny side or the slimy side or the scary side of things to really get much loving attention from humans. These creatures are often disregarded, ignored, or treated with violence and disrespect, but Ononiwu Kaishian treats them with the reverence they deserve. I also appreciate how Kaishian emphasizes the necessity of applying Indigenous Traditional Knowledge to our daily lives. These are topics I will never get tired of reading about. Especially in these times when interrelationality is a most urgent medicine. In fact, this whole book was a comfort, a joy, and a revelation in the face of pain and grief. The author discusses the legacy that genocide and colonization leave behind. She faces the repercussions of trauma and of feeling othered. All the while, nature provides refuge and relationship that she demonstrates we can all reach out to for strength and wonder in difficult times. I am so grateful for this book and will be referring to it for years to come, I am sure. Anytime I am hungry for some fascinating facts about our wild neighbors, or anytime I am eager to remember I am not alone (and that none of us are, not in the slightest).

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Thanks to Net-Galley for providing this Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a very different read than the synopsis suggests; rather than queerness in nature this book is more about queerness in science, which is, to be fair, a fascinating topic. This book reads as half memoir, half social commentary, with nature anecdotes tying the two together.

The book is beautifully written and the author makes excellent intersectional analyses of the scientific community and Western culture as a whole. However, I found myself wondering who the book’s audience is meant to be. The book’s queerness is loud, which is excellent and important in nonfiction especially, but of course also will inevitably alienate some readers who might benefit from the writing. And on the other hand, for the queer readers who are more likely to be drawn to this one, much of the social analysis is over-explained.

What I would have LOVED for this book and what I think would have solved the above issue would be a different ratio of nature facts to social commentary. Kaishian does an excellent job of juxtaposing fascinating facts with what they can make us question about our current way of looking at things. She tends to briefly describe the science, pose some sharp questions, and then go on to answer those questions for us in long essays. As a reader, I would have liked to have more space to find my own answers to her questions, perhaps revealed in additional scientific examples. Part of this may be my own failings - I tend to read fiction, where the reader has more agency to take their own meanings out of the book, and I also went into this book really wanting to learn about queer non-human biology.

The book also handles a lot of topics in a short time, which is exciting but makes it hard to keep track of everything. I was reading an ARC online so perhaps in the final physical version there will be more reader reference points, but I found myself wanting more chapter breaks and clearer headings just for the sake of finding topics that had interested me in previous chapters.

Kaishian shone brightest for me when describing some of the wonders of this strange world. My personal need from nonfiction is that it inspires me to tell more stories or to teach what I’ve learned, and I have a full notebook page of inspiring notes from this book. And what Kaishian does most uniquely in this book is to invite people like myself, long reviled by science, back into the scientific world in a way that honors, welcomes, and excites.

I recommend this book to anyone who loved Braiding Sweetgrass, A Sand County Almanac, H is for Hawk, as well as to any young scientist beginning or hoping to begin their own educational pathway. Kaishian doesn’t just teach us different ways to look at science and the world, she also reminds us of ways to look at and care for ourselves.

This book absolutely blew my mind! Mycology hasn’t been a specific interest of mine but the way that the author speaks about fungi (and really all plants and animals and the Earth) makes it inherently fascinating and important. I feel more connected and reflective about the natural world and more proud of my queerness. The way that the author brought together science, identity, and queerness was new for me and very profound. I have recommended this book to quite a few of my friends and family because I know it will change their lives too!

This is such a beautiful personal and collective account of what it feels like to be in touch with nature. Looking at the ecologies of forests, swamps, and grasslands through the lens of queer theory allows for the removal of scientific bias that ignores so many non-binary aspects of the natural world . The personal reflections and stories made me feel so seen in the relation between not feeling like I fit in the binary of societal gender expectations and the welcoming that forests and wild spaces provide to folks like me. It is not a coincidence that we are often drawn to natural places to feel more at home. This book really reaffirmed these feelings through a variety of studies of flora, fauna, and fungi whose lives exist beyond the heteronormative binary that has been imposed upon them. I'm excited to recommend this book to other lovers of queer theory and readers of Robin Wall Kimmerer.

This book is an essential look into the value of queerness and nature and the ways that the understandings of these two concepts interact. Queer life is natural life and the more that people grow to understand that, the more compassion I feel we will have in the world. I really appreciated the author's perspective from not just a personal standpoint, but a scientific and biological one as well. I learned so much about the different life forms in the forest, particularly about the fungal kingdom. This book joins a pantheon of fungal literature that the author mentions was absent when they began much of their journey into mycology. I'm glad that they are contributing to a field that they saw a gap in.

I genuinely hope that this books gets the traction to get into the hands of someone who needs to hear what is in these pages. The concept of a "sit spot" is vital as the world hurtles through a bunch of scary changes. Now is more important than ever to connect to our natural surroundings, for the good of ourselves and our world.

This book is a meditative wander through the woods, a reflective trip to the local creek, a paddle through weeded wetlands of information. it is a look at the author's life lived so far and the development of how we look at and interact with nature. Kaishian weaves information, narrative and reflection incredibly well in this jewel of a book.

Nature lovers, biology nerds, mycology fans and queer crew alike will find something to enjoy about this book.

This was a really lovely collection of personal stories and their relationships to queerness in nature. I appreciated the author’s vulnerability and perspective.

A beautifully written ode to the queerness found in nature, gender dysphoria, and ambiguous identities while exploring trauma, climate change, colonialism, fluidity and topics like living with ADHD, the Armenian genocide and feeling like an outsider while finding solace and similarities in nature and the world around you.

My fave type of non fiction is when the author blends personal anecdotes with kind of niche topics- in this case queerness in nature- and this one was done so well. There was SO much to learn in this book, from swamps and how bowerbirds craft their nests to the lives of crows, slugs, fungi and intersex glass eels.

For fans of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Sabrina Imbler’s How Far the Light Reaches, I’ll be recommending this to everyone this year.

(shoutout to this book for introducing me to the work of Mary Banning and also the 1996 film Microcosmos too!!)

Informative and beautifully written, I loved how this piece explored queerness, ecology, and humanity, and the ways they intertwine. I desperately need to get my hands on a physical copy so I can reread and tab all my favourite parts.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau for an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a lovely book with thoughtful musings on the healing power of nature when we listen and embrace the simple lessons all around us. I love books of nature and gender, and this intersection between the two genres was just *chef’s kiss *. I know I’ll return to many of the ideas here, such as creating a space around yourself like a bowerbird, using snail love as a teaching example for relationships, and sit spaces and being seen by nature. I’ve lived in the Midwest my whole life and have always appreciated the nature around me, yet I have a brand new appreciation for flatlands informed by the history of the plains. And as an aspiring scientist, the idea that nature and science already has itself figured out and research isn’t about “discovering,” it’s about revealing what’s already there and honoring it was revolutionary and changed the way the I think about the research I’m involved in. This book made me feel seen in a way I’m so grateful for.

This was such an interesting book! I loved learning about nature, and the queerness of it. I learned a lot about animals that I didn’t know about as well learned a lot about mushrooms which I didn’t know much about at all.

This book reads more like a memoir mixed with a nature journal, and that’s not what I was expecting from reading the synopsis. However, it was still very interesting to read about the authors life and own queer journey. Would definitely recommend for those wanting to learn more about the wonderful queerness of nature.

incredibly unique and tender book! this made learning feel personal and gentle, like a one-on-one. i didn't think i'd ever resonate so deeply with fungi and a multitude of other bacteria but here we are! understanding the concept of queerness in things other than humanity is such a deeply beautiful and wonderful ability to have and i feel grateful that this knowledge was shared with me in my lifetime. reading this brought a new perspective of understanding upon me, as if a whole new world was opening up to me in such a warm welcoming way. truthfully so super thankful that i was able to receive this arc and take the time to embrace new ideas within queerness and the world around me!

Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian is a mixture of highly personal memoir, science-writing and nature writing. It’s meditative, reflective and feels somehow deeply organic in a way that’s deeply right for its subject matter.

It’s a love letter to the diversity of nature and the ways that misunderstood and overlooked or unpopular organisms (corvids, fungi, bugs, etc) often resonate with queer communities. It’s a tonic and a comfort at a time when queer rights are increasingly under attack to be reminded that our identities are reflected back to us in nature and that things are often more complicated and more interesting than the rigid adherence to binaries of the past made them seem. More than a tonic, Forest Euphoria is powerful, holistic medicine, brimming with magic.

Kaishian breaks down hierarchies, biases and binaries and puts humanity on the same level as cicadas, eels, or lichens in a way that elevates rather than diminishes us. Simply put, this book feels like coming home.

A blend of memoir and scientific exploration, Forest Euphoria situates a queer individual within the queerness of nature. This grants it tangibility; allowing the reader to also place themselves within the mind boggling grand scheme of things. Content warning for child sexual abuse though. It is introduced suddenly which clearly helps portray the impact of such abuse and trauma on a child, but be mindful as a reader
There is fascinating foci throughout, with each chapter interweaving a moment in the author’s life with the stirring life and study of organisms from fungi to corvids.
It is a superb critique too of the Eurocentric baggage science carries alongside how harmful Westernised binary thinking is when the majority of nature and biological processes do not adhere to binaries at all.
The author does a brilliant job of decentering the human individual and allowing this fact to act as reassurance rather than a threat. In short, it’s about time we came off of our manmade pedestals and embraced the spontaneity and queerness of the world that has been living and breathing long before we ever did.