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.

I don't know if Anna Dorn considers her work autofiction or if she thinks that is stupid - what I do know is that I love autofiction and I loved this take on the lesbian pulp novel. As the main character Astrid thinks to herself, "I realized I liked books about angry, quick-witted women with interpersonal issues" - same. I think lovers of that particular niche will enjoy this book - funny, abrasive, horny, romantic, cynical.

Wow. This novel was brilliant! This is my first time reading from this author, and now I want to go back and read all her previous novels. I loved Anna Dorn's writing style. It was so cynical, hilarious, and poignant. I love quirky and satirical novels. You will love/hate Astrid. She's such a messy and deeply insecure character. I loved the tone, the vibe, and the characters, but I could've done without Kat Gold (she seemed like an immature teenager than an adult woman). I really didn't want this book to end. It was so refreshing to read about lesbian pulp fiction in a modern setting. "Perfume and Pain" was razor-sharp. This is how literary fiction is supposed to be written. Memorable story and memorable protagonist. The cover art is absolutely stunning. This book was EVERYTHING. I'm officially OBSESESED!

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC.

Oh my God, Anna Dorn did it again! I absolutely loved Exalted, so I had to jump on requesting this ARC as soon as possible. This novel is wittier than it has any right to be, and such a wild blend of humor, unhinged women, and just those weird vibes I've come to expect from Dorn as an author.

Astrid is an icon, truly someone that we all should all recognize as being that cool girlie we all wish we had whispering questionable choices into our ear. Kind of like if your conscience was a biker chick and wanted to spice up your life.

The language in this book was so lusciously evocative, particularly the imagery around scents and it truly harkens back to the lesbian pulp novels that we can thank for being a stepping stone towards wildly enjoyable romps like Perfume and Pain.

Thank you to Anna Dorn, Netgalley, and Simon and Schuster for this eARC! I loved it and I can't wait to add a phsyical version to my collection.

This was AMAZING! Unhinged, messy, problematic? Gahhhh! YES PLEASE ! I ate it up! Anna Dorn’s Perfume and Pain was witty, and downright hilarious! Astrid was my absolute favorite kind of unreliable narrator! She’s a weird, messy, lesbian and I LOVED her! This book is definitely going to be a hit! So descriptive, so addicting, so all consuming! I couldn’t put this down till I finished it! I love when a book makes me give it 110% of my attention and this one demanded it! I can’t wait till it hits shelves because all of my friends will be receiving a copy! While I wait I am definitely going to be picking up another novel by Anna ASAP!

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is honest, unbiased, and completely my own.

Girls just want to smell like patchouli, drive a Subaru Impreza, and have their own year of rest
and relaxation!! The descriptions of perfumes were a favorite; think tattooed women smoking cigarillos scented. This book is completely of the times- hot lesbians living in LA, wearing sambas with Levi’s, and listening to the audiobook of The Secret History. I am obsessed. This book reminded me much of other books I have rated five stars and it did not take long for me to realize that this was a five-star read. Another banger for the character-driven, unlikeable characters girlies.

Thank you Netgalley, Simon and Schuster, and Anna Dorn for this advanced reader's copy. This is the first ARC I have ever rated five stars.