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.

Anyone interested in biology, queerness, and/or who just needs a reminder that they are a part of everything, everywhere and needs some hope and love should read this book.

I don’t typically pick up non-fiction books but the topic of this one intrigued me. Unfortunately I DNFed at around 35%. It just wasn’t for me although I really appreciated the author’s enthusiasm for her subject and I liked getting to see how it’s something that she always was interested in and drawn to even as a child The connections to queerness were interesting and comparisons I’’d never considered before. I think this would work for a lot of people, especially if they’re interested in biology and mycology already.

Kaishian’s narrative is a wonderful look at the queerness inherent in nature while also being moving, personal, and reflective. I did learn a great deal about fungi and slugs and snails, but I wouldn’t say that’s the primary focus of the book. Instead, these and other vignettes helped frame larger discussions, like why certain fields, animals, and environments are not as studied, the continued struggle of underrepresented populations in science and other fields, and the importance of reconnecting and paying attention. I thought this was an excellent book and would highly recommend it.

Simply gorgeous. A beautiful memoir exploring the queerness of nature, in particular of fungi, eels, insects, & plants & the parallels to the author's own queerness & the spectrum of gender & sexuality across the human race.

Patricia's writing is genuinely captivating - she builds such a vivid world with her words & manages to explain relatively complex scientific terms in ways that are easy to understand.

Overall, I loved this book.

Read this super fast because each moment reading it was pure hope and love. Honestly. It’s been a ROUGH couple years for me and my peers (young & neurodivergent, queer, disabled, etc.) and the world mostly feels like a place that is trying to spit us out. Eradicate us. This books reminded me that I am the carbon of eternity itself; I am everywhere. This was comfort in a book. Read it.

Overall, this is like extended musings and meditative essays about queerness in nature and the author’s own experiences and observations.
The language is engaging and the musings are interesting.
3,5 stars.

I love how the author mixes their story with nature's queerness. I grew up in a fundamentalist religion that had a thick book of all the character qualities we can learn from nature. All the stories supported what their cult taught. To read this book on queerness in nature is like reading the flip side of that book of my childhood. It's great, and I'm glad this author wrote this book!

This is written as essentially a love letter to queer biology and nature, with side notes about different creatures. You can really feel the love the author has for all forest ephemera/euphoria. There’s a lot of exploration of queerness and how nature reflects and intersects with queerness.

This book is the perfect blend of science, memoir, and theory. It paints a vivid picture of the natural world through the lens of queer ecology. It touched all the points I could ask for in a work of creative nonfiction--practical, conceptual, and personal.

I loved this read! As both a queer woman and a nonprofit worker that works towards sustainability and conservation of the world, this book just resonated so deeply with what I believe to be true. I've always had a strange relationship with nature; both a longing to be amongst it and a fear of it in its entirety. Through this book, I've recognized that the fear has come from the mentality pushed forward through society to alienate our nature from us. Kaisian's work made me feel reconnected with the world.

"Humans are part of this collective body, whether we choose to protect it or not, whether we choose to remember or not."

I loved the ways Kaishian interconnected her story with that of nature, specifically creatures normally looked down upon such as eels or fungi. By learning the ways other cultures interact with nature, Kaishian has opened me up to a new worldview that I can pull from to help me connect. I would absolutely recommend this book to others.

Very cool book. I like when you’re talking to someone new and they light up when they get to talk about something g theyre passionate about. That’s the same kind of feeling I got while reading this.