I loved the idea of this book and ended up not finishing it. I'm not exactly sure where they lost me. I'm generally pretty stubborn about finishing books. Maybe I should give it another try.

THis book had a great premise, but ended up being a bit too abstract for me. I enjoyed reading some of the technical parts of the book, but the philosophic, "out there" part of this book was beyond me. I definitely thought the author was going in a different direction, but it was a direction I didn't enjoy.

I think that some people will like this book, but it's just not for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I thought at first this book was about humans responding to the call to be among plants in natural places and the peace we feel among them. While they stay put we are drawn to them, and feel deprived without open access to plant life. I definitely go through stagnation when I haven't been in nature for awhile and this started off as a gentle reminder to make time for and appreciate those walks. I was thinking: man, I'll never look at an inviting wilderness patch quite the same again.

The book goes on to talk about sensations and exposure and immersion with plants which was fine but gets REALLY abstract trying to define places. This is where it lost me. I've decided to revise my review since I don't want to falsely label someone's book but there were moments when I was convinced whole chapters were just some ai-generated text ouroboros eating it's own tail while murmuring about 'place'.

At this point I'm a bit conflicted over the book and how to rate it. At times the writing is very clear, but bogged down and muddled at others.
I had a hard time following the author's philosophical ideas on place (especially in the conclusion) but I'll blame that on my lack of understanding that I couldn't make heads or tails of what exactly it was that I just read.

I wanted to be generous with my rating but I'm now writing a bad review I don't want to write.

I thought ✋maybe I'm just too dumb, and they're just really philosophical about places 🤚 which would be correct. and more likely than my earlier theory.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book early in return for my honest thoughts and review. Sorry. Great chapter about moss though.

FIt is rare that I one star a book, but I very honestly hated this book. I was expecting to learn about how plants adapt to being rooted in place. Instead I was hit over the head with flower language, pedantic drivel, and philosophy that was not particular nuanced.

I would much rather watch paint dry on a humid day than ever be subjected to this text again.