Anna Dorn's novel "Perfume and Pain" is a captivating blend of dark humor, poignant character development, and a compelling narrative.
The story centers around Astrid, a beautifully messy protagonist whose journey is both relatable and engrossing. Dorn's humor is sharp and witty, providing a perfect counterbalance to the novel's more intense moments.

Astrid's character development is a standout aspect, transforming from a chaotic and flawed individual into someone readers can't help but root for. Her likability, despite her imperfections, adds depth and authenticity to the story, making her progression throughout the book both satisfying and impactful. "Perfume and Pain" is a delightful read that skillfully combines humor, heart, and an unforgettable main character.

I couldn’t put this book down once I started. It was fun, smart, sexy, and compelling. I loved everything about reading it, honestly.

(4.5)
After sitting on this one for a few days, I have landed on a STRONG 4.5 for this book. It was just so damn enjoyable to me!

Perfume & Pain features an unlikeable, recently "cancelled" lesbian author who can't seem to shut her mouth to save her life (or her career) as she tries to find her voice and falls into obsession after obsession after obsession (whether it be her 'upper' cocktail of drug and alcohol known as the Patricia Highsmith or her 'upper' in the form of a fellow writer named Ivy that she only sees on grainy zoom calls or her 'downer' of a nosey neighbor who smells like patchouli).

Astrid is an unbearable delight; she's the kind of insufferable person you can't help but want to root for, in your own way. The sense of realizing this woman has never learned how to give a f*ck about anyone or anything that isn't herself and yet STILL wanting good things for her is a wild ride of a reading experience. She presents herself as almost a too-reliable narrator; even though there are times when she is lost to the haze of the 'Patricia Highsmith' and her perception is disoriented, she lets loose every thought she's ever had about anything that classifies as a noun. She's a hater, lives off the high of validation and never wants to give it to anyone else, and understands her faults but is somewhat unwilling to change them when people point them out to her. It makes for a highly entertaining read!

This book genuinely saved me from a reading slump; I kept looking forward to its wit, dark humor, and the relatability of wanting to speak your mind whatever the consequence may be. If there was a foul thought to be had, she sure as hell has it without a care of whether or not it makes her a bad person, and it made her a hell of a protagonist to read from. I also found the narrative surrounding her writer's block to be something I could relate to my own life, especially right now.

The L.A. setting lends itself well to this novel; though Astrid is one of the few people publically recognized for her self-centered nature, nearly every one she encounters has vainful ends, as is the nature of Los Angeles. For spoiler's sake I won't discuss them here, but if there was gain to be had, there were certain characters who definitely sought it out for their own lives.

Nothing about this book felt wrong or forced; Astrid was a very realized character whose perspective of the world, while unconventional, was raw and real.

I don't think this messy queer book is for everyone, but it was VERY MUCH for me. This is my first Anna Dorn novel, and it will certainly NOT be my last. I am excited to see more from this author in the future!

And while Perfume & Pain is very clearly self-insert for the author, if anyone is willing to write a fictionalized version of themselves in this light for everyone else to read, I commend them!

Thank you to the publisher for the E-Arc. This book is already up for retail as of my reading.

Genre: Literary Fiction

Format: Physical/E-book

5🌟 - I loved it!

This book is such a gem! I was cackling reading this one. It was so ridiculous and heartfelt and chaotic in the best kind of way! I ended up bumping up my rating to 5 stars writing this review because I couldn’t stop thinking about how good it was!!

Astrid, our unhinged and messy messy but self-aware protagonist truly living her LA hot girl summer. Self-obsessed and self-destructive watching things unfold felt like watching a trainwreck but you couldn’t look away.

The humor was truly unmatched, her writing was so sharp and smart! She writes complex and queer relationships, a compelling but unlikeable FMC, and flawed but honest characters.

Anyone who loves satirical writing, a messy FMC, and queer representation will eat this one up!

Content warning: abusive relationships, graphic depictions of drug use.

This book took me a while to get through-- I initially started it a few months ago and then put it down, annoyed by the self-centered and self-destructive narrator.

Once I got back into it, I finished it within days. Fitting in with some of the themes of the book, it had an addictive pull even though parts of it were a little scary (accounts of people doing drugs and blacking out).

Despite all of this, I was invested in seeing what happened, how the main character's key relationships developed and morphed with time and her own growth. I especially liked how she was able to change with her brother (a scene where he coaches her through exorcising a stalker over the phone was particularly memorable).

This book definitely lives up to its name -- there are quite a few references to specific perfumes (that you, the reader, can even buy for yourself!) and the pain of various heartbreaks.

Recommended for folks interested in: lesbian pulp subversion, Cat Power, meta fiction, writing about writing.

Thanks to Net Galley for the free digital copy of this book! Review also shared on Goodreads.

I don't think I've been so consumed by a book in so long - it took over my whole thought process. The prose was beautiful, and it felt like I was in someone's head. I am someone who struggles to have much of an imagination, and this very much painted a dreamy picture of everything, and made me feel like I was right in the story. Anna Dorn has a way of simultaneously making you feel bad for, as well as hating their characters, and it put the book together so well. Anna Dorn is now an auto-buy author after reading this.

Astrid Dahl has had some minor success as a writer, but she’s blocked on her next book, so she rejoins the Zoom writers group that she help found but kind of abandoned when she got published. After being slightly cancelled, she needs some distractions, including grad student Ivy who is researching 1950s lesbian pulp novels and her neighbor, Penelope.

I enjoyed this one. Astrid is a mess, and there are a few twists and turns with her situation while she’s recovering her image and trying to write something new.

What a delight this book was. Astrid is a semi-cancelled writer living in Los Angeles who is trying to resucitate her career while battling a mild drug addiction. She also happens to be lesbian and prone to develop crushes that get pretty close to obsession. This book is narrated by Astrid with her funny and cynical voice, I had so much fun reading I almost didn't want to ever finish it. Perfect cure for a reading slump, I kept thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it.

I feel like this book will be polarizing - the people who get it, get it, and the ones who don't, won't. I enjoyed the writing style, and the main character, while quite terrible, was well-fleshed out. I think that the best word to describe this novel is 'messy' (in a great way!).

I think what held me back from a full 5 star is that the main character was so terribly unlikeable, and just never got that redemption arc for me to still root for her.

Overall, I still highly recommend Perfume & Pain. The writing was enjoyable, the cover is gorgeous, and it left me wanting to read the other books mentioned throughout the story.

This book was full of twists and turns that leave you wanting to know more and more about the main characters insane love life.

There is something almost therapeutic and entertaining reading about someone who is privileged and problematic get taken down a notch. It is hard to like someone like the main character, Astrid, but it is hard to look away as she spirals.
The way Dorn write this character's story has the reader feeling the side affects of the crazy drinking , smoking, and drugs that Astrid is taking throughout parts of the book (but like in a good way?).

All in all, I did really enjoy this read. It is different than what I usually go for, but I think that is what drew me to it.

This is one of those "messy girl" books. Anna Dorn's writing is beautiful here, but I feel like this is something I've read before again and again. A chaotic main character going through some sort of crisis and just moving in place.
While I wasn't obsessed with this book, it was not an unpleasant read and a fun homage to lesbian pulp.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Perfume and Pain is about Astrid Dahl, a semi-successful lesbian novel writer in her mid-thirties living in Los Angeles. She is acerbic, narcissistic, and falls in love too easily. Astrid’s poor decisions and behavior are finally catching up with her and her life is a bit of a mess. She has recently found herself in hot water for a flippant comment captured at her book reading. She regularly imbibes a specific cocktail of alcohol and drugs she has dubbed “the Patricia Highsmith," after her favorite author. Astrid uses it to help her socialize and write prolifically, but also blacks out while on it.

The writing is absolutely fantastic and immediately drew me in. Astrid’s perspective and the commentary is hilarious. I do have mixed feelings as her antics are a bit tiring at times and I had no idea where the story would go. Will she change? Will she get a happy ending? Does she deserve a happy ending? Astrid isn’t a likeable character, but her wit is entertaining. The women she falls in love with tend to be very dramatic and bad for her. I’d recommend if you’re looking for a well-written, chaotic romp through Hollywood.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Did I just find my new favorite ‘weird girl’ book? I think so!! I was hooked from the start and tore through this bad boy so fast with its short chapters and addictive writing. I could have stayed in this messy little world fever. I wasn’t very familiar with Lesbian Pulp before this but now Iv fallen down the rabbit hole and I’ll be picking up a copy of The Price of Salt ASAP. I’ll also be reading my way through Anna’s backlog of books after this because she might be my new favorite author. Thank you so much to NetGally and the publishers for an advanced digital copy for review.

This messy lesbian story was exactly what I didn't know I needed.

Astrid’s toxic behavior is super relatable, especially the way she wrecks her own success because she feels like she doesn't belong in the industry. The book also nails the struggle with addiction and using drugs to numb the pain when all you really want is to be seen.

Heads up, there's a lot of lesbian slang in this book. If you haven't seen "The L Word," you might miss some of the references.

Still, I had an amazing time reading it, and Anna Dorn is going on my must-read list.

I LOVED Exalted by Anna Dorn when I read it a few years back, so I when I read the premise for Perfume and Pain I knew it would be another great read. And I was not disappointed! This book was chaotic and funny, with a captivating (and at times unlikeable) main character in Astrid Dahl. Astrid is a moderately successful author who is struggling with her next book. She is briefly “cancelled” after an incident at a Barnes & Noble event, so in addition to writer’s block she is dealing with the fallout from that. Throw in the temptation of Patricia Highsmith, her perfect drug/alcohol concoction and an obsession with her new neighbor, and Astrid’s life is soon off the rails.

I loved how unapologetically messy Astrid is. At one point she is literally counting the red flags while waiting for her current infatuation to text her back. Dorn’s writing is so clever and funny, and had me guffawing and wondering what the hell I just read more than once. I just had so much fun reading this book.

If you like books by Melissa Broder and Emily R. Austin definitely check out Anna Dorn, especially Perfume and Pain!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Shusted for a review copy.

"Perfume and Pain" by Anna Dorn is a fluid, inventive homage to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction, centering on the tumultuous life of Astrid, a flailing writer in LA. Teetering on the edge of personal and professional collapse, Astrid navigates relationships with two contrasting women: the erratic Ivy, a PhD student analyzing lesbian pulp fiction, and the self-assured artist Penelope.

Struggling with addiction and a tendency towards toxic, drama-filled relationships, Astrid’s spiky, often offensive wit provides a sharp commentary on LA’s creative, lesbian communities. Despite her unlikeable qualities, Astrid's self-awareness and biting humor make her a compelling character. Dorn's style, reminiscent of Halle Butler and Emily M. Danforth, offers a captivating blend of unhinged self-destruction and dark humor that is both shocking and realistic, making this a must-read for those who enjoy messy, unapologetic, queer narratives.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC!

In Perfume & Pain, Astrid Dahl is a writer struggling to work on her next book, navigate her myriad relationships, and "get healthy," or rather, steer clear of her favorite cocktail of drugs she calls "The Patricia Highsmith." This book is an homage to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction and has elements implicitly and explicitly incorporated throughout.

Who knew lesbian pulp fiction was a thing? I'm a sucker for metafiction of any variety and this one was well done with richly developed characters and nods to iconic female and lesbian authors of the past. It's not a plot-driven novel, so readers looking for much more than intra-personal relationships may be disappointed, but I'm not one of those readers, so I enjoyed it quite a bit. Be sure to read this great interview with the author to learn more about her process in writing the novel: https://dirt.fyi/article/2024/05/perfume-and-pain.

I LOVED this book! as a lesbian... its so relatable, lesbians are unhinged, theyre funny, theyre silly, and they fall in love and do weird things, and sometimes there is even a crumb of hope for them!

queer, messy, unfiltered and completely unhinged. that’s exactly the type of literature I wanna see and vibe with!!

Reading this book felt like being on a bender. And god damn I love adrenalizing.

A semi-autofictional romp, the story follows writer "Astrid Dahl" who struggles to write, to work, to exist?? post-publication of her latest novel... about an online astrologist. The book is being adapted into a TV show, she's dealing with the fallout of being slightly canceled on literary Twitter, she gets entangled in some MESSY romantic endeavors, she blacks out when she shouldn't- basically all of the makings of a novel I will absolutely eat up. And I did.

At one point, the main character describes her writing as cerebral in the sense that it's very interior and often lacks physicality. And while I don't know that I 100% agree with that in regards to the Real Person Anna Dorn's writing, I realized that I actually might love her books for that very reason. I always get so swept up in being inside her characters' brains that I forget to be in my own obsessive compulsive one for a while. And selfishly, it's a really nice break. Anna Dorn is also one of the funniest writers I've read. I'm a big believer that you have to be smart to be funny, and Dorn just has a way of writing spot-on observational humor that feels very of-the-moment. And the autofictional elements and sassy quips about her previous writing in this book all made me giggle, too. Having read her other novels, I felt like I was in on the jokes.

But then around the 75-80% mark, the tone shifts into something more serious and more earnest, which I wasn't expecting but genuinely really enjoyed. The beginning of the book is a wild, adderal-powered romp, but the ending feels more like a love letter to the process of writing and the community that supports it. Which is lovely and wholesome and nice.

As a whole, Perfume & Pain is a similar flavor to Dorn's other novels, this one felt elevated in a way that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the academic conversations infused within the plot, maybe it's just Anna Dorn growing and maturing as a writer and a person. Either way, it's really fun to follow an author get better and better throughout their career.

You should read this if you like the Netflix shows Love (starring Gillian Jacobs) or Bojack Horseman!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of Perfume & Pain in exchange for an honest review! I also listened to a portion of this book on audio through my personal Everand account. Perfume & Pain is out now!