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.

What a wild ride. I meant to just start this tonight and then I ended up bingeing the whole thing! I knew I would like this book from as soon as I read the “lesbian vs sapphic” conversation, and that was a great way to introduce Astrid. She has such a strong POV, and she’s not necessary a likable character, but mostly in a entertaining way rather than an annoying one, and I was really rooting for her growth! The part near the end where she and her brother really bonded made me emosh.

I loooooved all the lesbian drama and how fleshed out all of the characters felt. Even when they’re doing crazy things, it still felt realistic?? This is the first time I’ve wished I could give half stars because I feel like it’s probably a 4.5 & I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC!

I'm a huge fan of the selfish, tortured soul, 30-something-year-old artist character living in LA genre. They are complicated and annoying characters to read about but relatable and interesting. I love Anna Dorn's books and this one was no different. Will recommend!

Thank you #netgalley for the advanced copy!

perfume and pain is such a fun little roller coaster! astrid dahl is delightfully unlikeable, both witty and fun and unbelievably prickly and mean in exactly the right way. the cast of characters around her was excellent too, all fully realized people with rich personalities that reminded me of people i know and love. the way queer culture is portrayed here reminds me of dykette but with rounder edges, still full of critique of the way we hurt each other, but with a little more nuance around the ways different parts of the community don't quite align with each other. there are well drawn comparisons between generations and schools of thought that manage clarity without resorting to caricature, and i really appreciated that.

usually i feel like too many pop culture references can make a book feel instantly dated, but i can't imagine telling this story without talking about kstew and the kardashians--the language of these characters needs the language of all of the pop culture nonsense that informs them. it doesn't feel forced or overdone or used in a way that screams "how do you do, fellow kids?" which is an absolute feat considering how often books can turn grating when they reach for pop culture too often. this feels of its time and current, and reminds me of the ways i talk to my friends. not an easy feat!

this is really closer to a 4.5, and i would absolutely recommend it to anyone that loves messy queer nonsense and scumbag girlies. it's compulsively readable and so much fun--just like the pulp novels that inspired it. thank you so much to netgalley and simon & schuster for providing the arc for review!

This novel is a perfect depiction of a messy, 20-something woman who is spiraling while trying to figure out her work- and love-life at the same time. She struggles with addiction and sexual tensions with the people she meets. Altogether, she doesn’t know what she’s doing - but that’s exactly what life is like at that time in your life.

Anna Dorn writes the messiest, problematic, and vapid lesbian protagonists and PERFUME & PAIN is no different. I did not enjoy my time with EXALTED so I was a little nervous jumping into another Dorn book. However, this rollercoaster of a book made my laugh out loud on multiple occasions, and I found myself fully hooked into this story. The homage to 50’s lesbian pulp fiction was a fun twist on book about toxic relationships and heavy drugs and celebrities and more.