PERFUME AND PAIN was a riot. There's an energy to Dorn's novel that I wish I encountered more in novels. It was quippy and fast and I felt deeply invested by the hilarious characters. I can't wait to read whatever she writes next. Thanks to the publisher for the e-galley!

Forever grateful to @___adorn and @simonbooks for my ARC of Perfume and Pain.

It was perfect. I read a lot of books. When I find one that is uniquely its own story, I always fall a little bit in love. When I started reading this book, I kept interrupting my husband to read him hilarious lines. Some were shocking and potentially a little problematic, but in the best way, totally self-deprecating. My kindle notes for this book read like a standup set on what it means for our FMC, Astrid, to be a lesbian.

Astrid is a writer. She’s brilliant, but struggles to get out of her own way and out of her head. Worried that she’s past her prime, she’s floundering a bit. She stumbled into a slight internet scandal when refers to her own sexuality in way that offends a lot of people. She promises her agent to clean up her act, which includes breaking up with the Patricia Highsmith, Astrid’s cocktail of substances that enables her to achieve the perfect blend of outgoing but under control.

Breaking up with Patricia is harder than she thought. They’ve written three books together, so Astrid sets her sights on another distraction- a young writer in her Zoom writer’s group. The distraction proves to be much more dangerous than Patricia. Add in a new neighbor and the A-list actress optioning Astrid’s book and you have quite the cast of characters.

There’s so much more to share, but I want you to be as surprised as I was. I loved the style of this book. It’s truly a wild ride and getting lost in the limerence was my favorite part of this book. I can’t wait to read everything else Anna Dorn has written. This one is available everywhere May 21st!

This is the next unhinged and messy hot girl fiction! Anna’s writing is so easy to follow that I flew through the book. The book is full of wit and funny scenes that had me ROFL. Definitely an addictive read!

I absolutely loved this book! While deeply flawed, I couldn’t help but love Astrid. Perfume & Pain follows her as she navigates through writing novels, keeping up with her various lovers, and the benders she uses to avoid issues in her life/career. The cast of characters was so unique, and I found myself invested in all of them.

The short chapters, fast pace, and writing style had me flying through this book. I found myself picking it up during any free moment I had (which hasn’t happened in a long time). I’ve never read anything by Anna Dorn but definitely will go back and catch myself up now. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This will go down as one of my favorite books. It was queer and curious and funny and moving. It was a masterclass in delusion and storytelling. It showed complex queer relationships in a way that held truth while simultaneously acting as a caricature with high entertainment value. I was blown away from the first sentence. I consumed this novel greedily and quickly. I feel so lucky to have gotten an early proof.

I am a huge fan of Anna Dorn’s work, and this book is my favorite from her yet. Perfume and Pain contains everything I love in a story: humor, love, and mess. I’m sure others will call the protagonist Astrid unlikable: she makes terrible decisions, repeatedly. But I rooted for her the whole time and still found her to be smart in her social commentary and self-aware. The voice and plot had me hooked from page one, all to conclude with an ending scene so satisfying and that painted an image that will stay with me a very long time.

Okay, stick with me here—the best way I can think to describe this absolute ride of a book is if you crossed Nora Ephron’s Heartburn with Bojack Horseman. Yes, really, I’m not kidding. (I do currently have COVID, and I might be slightly brainfogged, but that’s neither here nor there.)

This book is a lot like Heartburn in that it’s about a kind of unlikeable but incredibly <i>specific</i> character, one who is privileged and petty but understandably upset and frustrated with the way her life is going. It’s like Bojack Horseman because you get that same feeling of watching a train wreck, hoping it gets better, wondering if it gets better. It’s a satire but it knows when to get serious and say serious things.

Oh, and also, this book is a homage to classic 60s lesbian pulp, specifically to Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt. I kind of have no idea how Perfume and Pain works as well as it does, since it’s doing all these things at once, but it absolutely works.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC! This was the perfect distraction from my COVID suffering.

The best thing about this book is that it's funny. I don't see this book appealing to anyone other than queer individuals under the age of 35. Which is fine! There are just a ton of references in here that I feel will date the book, making it readable only for the next 5 years or so.
I liked spending time with Astrid, but her character development felt rushed and unexplained to me. This book is best for anyone already familiar with the pulp genre and looking for a modern twist on it. Or anyone who loves messy drama; there's definitely a lot of it here.

I love Anna Dorn's writing - her ability to mix Paglia and Rhony and astrology and more is just so, so good. More people need to read her fiction!!! Perfume and Pain is the perfect summer read; compulsive and funny. The novel follows a mid-career author who has been lightly cancelled. While attempting to write her next book, she gets involved in a chemical romance. My only complaint, I wish the book was longer!

Full review in my january 2024 reading wrap up on my youtube channel, Kiran Reader.

This was such a wild ride. Every character was incredibly unlikable but that's part of what made it so fun and chaotic. We love a book that praises Donna Tartt and the Real Housewives.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy!

I absolutely LOVED this. Astrid is truly unhinged in the best way possible. I looked forward to any free moment I had to finish this, and I am so bummed it’s over. Anna Dorn is an amazing author, and I will definitely have to read more of her work. Please read this!

Perfume and Pain is one of those books where you absolutely hate the main character and everything she does, but you can't stop yourself from reading. It's impossible to just put the book down and say you are done with their bullshit. And lucky for me, I love those type of books. For some reason, I revel in being so frustrated at fictional characters I want to scream. Especially if they don't fully learn their lesson at the end of the book. Because some people are just so far from saving that you just have to let them burn in a house fire. So overall, I had fun, I was immensely frustrated, and I would recommend!

"Perfume and Pain" by Anna Dorn is a lesbian pulp novel that captivates readers with its witty and severe writing style. Dorn's narrative is both hilarious and endearingly psychotic, drawing readers into a world filled with intrigue and dark humor. Through vivid characters and razor-sharp dialogue, Dorn explores themes of love, desire, and the complexities of human relationships. With its unique blend of wit and intensity, "Perfume and Pain" is sure to leave readers entertained and eager for more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this novel before its release.

The promise of this book, comparing it to lesbian pulp fiction, is something I was excited but very nervous about. My personal identity as a lesbian is one of the most sacred things about who I am. Lesbian culture has comprised a large portion of my adult life thus far- my own thesis was focused entirely on 90's lesbian sports culture. So, the blurb of this book immediately caught my attention. I am quite literally the target audience for a story like this one.

This novel is an absolute breath of fresh air. I can't remember the last time I felt so seen between the pages of a book, laughing out loud at Astrid's internal monologue, gasping as the insane melodrama unfolds, each pop culture reference more topical and hilarious than the last.

Teeming with queer discourse, this story is completely unashamed to embrace the word LESBIAN. How rare is it to find a book (especially a messy sexuality-crazed love story) that doesn't shy away from that word and instead glorifies it. Conversations are presented about queerness in the modern lens that feel authentic, like I've read this tweet a thousand times before and finally, here is Astrid, femme lesbian extraordinaire, giving her brutally honest and deeply refreshing opinions in the same way I would rant to my own friends about these topics. This book just gets it! It will be divisive, I'm sure, and some may find it offensive or crass, but to this I say: Let lesbians be messy bitches for once.

Don't be mistaken- our main character, Astrid, is not a great person. She lacks social awareness, empathy, and sensitivity. She is a hot mess. She is very unlikeable, and yet! I was rooting for her, cursing her, praying on her downfall, and then rooting for her again. All of these characters feel large, like they could jump off the page and into the streets of LA. I was SO invested in the drama! I could read a thousand books just like this one and never be bored. But there aren't a thousand books just like this one, because this book is a spark, completely unique, reimagining its own genre space where lesbian pulp once was, filling a void that lesbian readers like me have been aching to nest in.

This is Michelle Tea's "Valencia" for our modern internet age, with all the chaos of Eliza Clark's "Boy Parts," and the chronically online literacy of Patricia Lockwood's "No One Is Talking About This." Required generational lesbian reading, and I loved every second of it.

*sigh* I was excited for this book. I very quickly got the ick from all the tiktok references etc. I kept going. The main character is so insufferable - which sometimes I like. This book put me in a huge reading slump and I eventually decided to dnf.

Thank you net galley for the digital ARC

This book was very funny. I liked the exploration of LA culture, writing groups, lesbian pulp, and damaging relationships with people, drugs, and alcohol. I liked the fact that the most of the characters were unlikable and outrageous.

i LOVEDDDDD this!!! it was funny and sad and extremely moving — way more so than i was expecting. i loved how the novel talked about lesbianism (particularly the less rosy parts) and addiction and the price of salt by patricia highsmith. i also learned a lot about lesbian pulp fiction! loved it.

This was my first time reading a book by Anna Dorn and now I must go and find everything she has ever written. Astrid was a very real character and although at first she is hard to like, she does have tremendous growth. Characters like Astrid are fun, I love unhinged characters. I love the nod to pulp lesbian novels as well.

Thanks for the ARC, going to read Vagablonde now!

Wow this was an even better read that I expected, I truly could not put this one down. I found myself laughing out loud so many times reading this book and Astrid is such a perfect mix of unlikeable and endearing. I also think her character development was great and I was brilliantly satisfied with the ending of this book. Still processing on how many star rating I want to give this book but I’m pretty confident it’ll be at least a 4.5!

5 stars. Thank you to netgalley ans the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I was so excited to read this book. "Exalted" stuck with me and I loved the premise of this book. Right away the voice and character sucked me in. The writing is funny and clever and full of moments where the characters inner dialogue is so relatable, like what she thinks in those fast moments after opening the door or in between sentences. One time she thinks about shacking up with a woman and what they would look like long term after a momentary interaction and I loved it. I loved the voice, the rhythm, and the attitude. Id read this again and i enjoyed every second of it. Anything Anna Dorn writes, I'll be reading.