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.

Anna Dorn is a funny and chaotic writer. I judged this book off the cover and had no idea what I was getting myself into and I’m glad I went in blind! I loved this cunty lesbian pulp book. I loved the way she wrote about LA, you literally can picture yourself being there. This was my first book by Anna Dorn and I look forward to reading her others!

4.5

Messy, hilarious, and smart.

She did it again! Anna Dorn is our guiding light to L.A. culture. I love how she's playing with autofiction and metatextuality - I know want to run out and read Patricia Highsmith and all the lesbian pulp right now. This book is messy and lesbian as hell (Astrid would not want me to say 'queer' or 'Sapphic). Astrid is trying to manage her life, continue with her writing, while fighting her addiction to drugs and toxic relationships.

Astrid is such a perceptive character. She's almost too honest with cutting remarks about our culture, which might maker her an off-putting character but she's so fun to read. She also reads as very real. This was a compelling read, I read it in a day. I wanted Astrid to make it. I did find the resolution to be a little too quick for me, but I'm happy for her.

This cements Dorn as an auto-buy author for me.

Anna Dorn is one of those authors whose books I read, and I’m like oh wow thank you for writing books specifically for me. Her writing (so funny and sharp), her characters (“I’m the problem, it’s me”), the LA setting (dreamy vibes). Just all of it. Her books just feel tailor made for me. So tysm!

I absolutely LOVED Exalted, so I was shocked and grateful to get an ARC for her upcoming book Perfume and Pain. The book follows the story of a lesbian LA author who may have some addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, and love (she absolutely does). She also can’t stop getting herself into hot water publicly with her famous “talking without thinking for a moment about what she is saying.”

I can see her characters not being for everyone and then being “unlikable protagonists” for some. Most likely because I see myself in these characters, I find it easy to connect with and have sympathy for them.

wonderfully written. a fun homage to lesbian pulp novels. what a fun read! i couldn't put it down. astrid is such a nut, but you can't help but love her. i want more!

A diagnostic broken lesbian guidebook we can all relate to. Astrid has several things we lesbians all need in life: a gay best friend (or two), a stalker, a questionable older crush, and something to distract us from the darkness. For Astrid it’s the Patricia Highsmith, and I have to admit I’m quite tempted to try it sometime.

What a great book that goes through the struggles of labelling as a lesbian in a culture that erases us. Anna has no issue getting into the grit and calling it like it is. Anna vocalises things that I’ve been thinking but couldn’t figure out how to say it as elegant as her. Highly recommend this book if you’re an angsty lesbian.

So much fun. Just a good romp, beach read, chaotic dyke story. Would reccommend to fans of Dykette and Milkfed.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this peculiar book!

How do I summarize this? In easier terms, a paradox. In more complicated terms, this was everywhere and nowhere all at once. A queer tale of life, humor and feelings

I love that I could call Anna Dorn “the Kanye West of [whatever]” and she would take it as a compliment. I am exactly the same way. I liked this much more than EXALTED - it was a return to the ratchelorette party of VAGABLONDE. In a perfectly I MISS THE OLD KANYE move, the main character in PERFUME AND PAIN cheekily admits she’d written both texts. I love you like, etc. I’d recommend wearing Maison Francis Kurkdjian BACCARAT ROUGE 540 when reading this book - the scent of a rich hippie performatively slumming it at a carnival, eating cotton candy.

this book is an amazing exploration of love, obsession, and the path to self-discovery. as someone not typically drawn to lit fic, i was pleasantly surprised by the raw and relatable portrayal of messy (and toxic) relationships, especially within the context of the LGBTQ+ narrative.

the way anna writes, i felt like i was just reading the diary of my messiest (but maybe most fun?) friend. i have added all of anna’s books to my TBR list and i’m excited to dive into more of her work!

thank you netgalley and simon & schuster for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I very much enjoyed this book. I read BAD LAWYER which was ok, and I know flailing, unhinged women who have no filter and are constantly self-medicating through alcohol and adderall might not scream endearing and funny to all, I did really enjoy it and couldn't wait to get back to it. I appreciated the infusion of 1950s lesbian pulp fiction, the peripheral friends, her literary zoom sessions, and how judgy and yet insouciant she is about everyone and everything.

It's like this book was made in a lab for me!! The Satchels of Gold reference? The Jenny Schecter Tumblr? The Patricia Highsmith of it all? And you already know I tracked down every perfume mentioned! Luckyscent x Anna Dorn collab — WHEN?

i loved this! was completely drawn in almost immediately to astrid's wacky little mind. compelling, compulsive read. again, not crazy about disordered eating being part of every single female protagonist's personality, but this one only makes brief allusions to it and it's thankfully not part of astrid's interior monologue at all. great for fans of dykette and big swiss, i think

Seriously I did not love this at first... I was unsure if I was going to finish, but then all the sudden I couldn't put it down. I realized I was put off by the character because I recognized myself in her. Her bad habits and self loathing, her attraction to red flags, consistently victimizing herself. And then she started to transform and change with the book, she was funny, charming even. The ups and downs kept me hooked. I felt seen by this book and felt a sense of community that I don't find often in literature. I love love love this book and will definitely recommend.

Perfume and Pain centers Astrid Dahl, an LA based lesbian writer who is recovering from her mild cancellation. As various women weave in and out of her life, Astrid is grating and thought provoking, a walking contradiction. When I thought the story would fizzle out, Anna Dorn keeps the reader entertained. Like the 20th Century lesbian pulp it pays homage to, Perfume and Pain is both repulsive and delicious.

i think i've said this before, but no one writes obsession the way that anna dorn does. it's something that i look for in a lot of fiction but i don't enjoy how it's written because it insists that you believe that a decent person just fell into bad behaviors. anna's characters don't pretend to be good, they just are, and it's refreshing because though i can't pretend that i'd go out of my way to be friends with some of these people, i absolutely luxuriate in reading about them.

so, what's this then?

astrid, a subversive writer with some success, is back in her writing group called the sapphic scribes (literally would kill to be in a writing group like this ok) and trying to keep her head above water after she's (minorly) canceled for something she said at a barnes & noble book event. she tells you who she is right off the bat: her first book was essentially kendall jenner dyke fanfic, she's over the commodification of queerness as social media currency (ie, using the term "sapphic" or "queer" instead of the word lesbian), and her writing has been heavily assisted over the years through a cocktail called the Patricia Highsmith - alcohol, adderall, and sativa.

life was bliss on the sauce and her writing had never been better, but after causing a ton of disaster, astrid is trying to learn how to write without the boost and coasting off funds she's accumulated from the movie option of her astrology book.

from there, we get to follow astrid's obsession with a woman in sapphic scribes, ivy, and their subsequent toxic relationship where ivy's constantly romanticizing the drama of the lesbian pulp novel and thinks if she keeps pushing adderall into astrid's mouth then maybe they can create one of their own. when astrid moves in next to an aging millennial lesbian who makes friends with her brother and constantly checks in on her, astrid realizes that maybe the drugs, maybe the rollercoaster lifestyle is something that she's growing out of.

i don't really know how to tell you how much i loved this. astrid's a mess and i need more messy lesbians to read about. anna dorn, i think you've been enshrined as one of my auto-buy authors.