This was such a lovely book.

As a mushroom enjoyer foremost I enjoy spending time in nature, although I don't do it very often as nature is very inaccessible sadly. Then as someone who used to study biology I enjoy the science part of nature just as much. This book both spoke to me in those two interests and I absolutely loved it.

Instead of the author telling a story and pointing out all the problems with the overly white science of nature, this book chooses to let different kinds of people talk about their relationship with nature and the things they experience while enjoying that. Most of the people in the book were researchers but not all of them were. There were so many fields of science discussed and different kinds of nature enjoyers, from birders to marine biologists to people who enjoy hiking or surfing. It made the book incredibly varied while still having the overarching theme of being Black in this white dominant field.

This theme was done incredibly well and I learned a lot from it. It showed examples of how these things are incredibly white and opened up my eyes for things I still had to learn. It told experiences of discrimination but also many moments of beautiful Black joy. As a white person it gave me a peek into their experiences which is extremely valuable and I can't thank the people who wrote in this enough.

It was also amazing to read of all these people enjoying nature in their own way. It made me see that nature is so different for everyone. Some people go out for the silence while others always went with groups to have communal fun. It made me feel so incredibly happy to see so many people finding their place in nature that this book totally made me smile a lot.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys nature and wants to read about others who do too, while learning more how it is to be in that field while being Black and a women and/or nonbinary.

I received an eARC through Netgalley and this was my honest review.