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!

i wanted to like this more than i did... the author truly gets modern lesbianism but i just felt like i wanted more from the story. so proud of the author but i just felt myself not wanting to come back to the story.

I picked up this book for two reasons: 1. The gorgeous cover! 2. All the sparkling reviews that claimed this is one of the funniest books of the year. Personally, I found this book to lean more on the side of humorous/witty than laugh-out-loud funny but that's fine by me because I overall really enjoyed this book. It fits firmly into one of my favorite genres which is that of the messy, unhinged woman who is "Not Doing Well." Dorn does a great job at creating an unliakable heroine you nevertheless root for, building an eerie, just-off-kilter atmosphere, and grounding it all in relatable career, family, and romantic struggles. There were times I felt like this book was absolutely not written for me as a straight person (and it wasn't! and that's ok!) so some of the language felt foreign in my head, but I got over that pretty quickly and just let the story wash over me. Very sharp writing, filled with carefully considered insights even though the plot is total madness--a fun combination! Will be very interested to read anything this author brings out in the future.

I really enjoyed Anna’s writing in Perfume and Pain. It was immersive and I felt like I was intruding in Astrid’s brain. Her likes and dislikes, quips and inner monologue were a treat to read. The way her brain would spitfire and land on random pop culture moments and her recent reads and movies was so fun to read. Overall, this book was a master at what it set out to do, which is create an unlikeable but real character and story that left me laughing and thoughtful. I really enjoyed Anna’s writing in this. This is my first from hers and I hope to read more.

This novel is so messy 😂.

The main character makes so many bad decisions and is so unbothered. I was not expecting the route the story took with Ivy, and then later with Penelope. Kat Gold is ridiculous, but also hilarious.

I’ve never read any 1950’s lesbian pulp fiction, but this was a wild time. The novel is well written and funny.

If you love a novel with messy characters, I’d recommend picking this one up!

Thank you to Net Galley and The Publishers for an arc of this book.
This book is fantastic. the humor the satire the vibe of it. i loved everything about this book it brought me back to how i felt when i first read my year of rest and relaxation... anna dorn is my new auto buy author, the writing is reltable it had me wondering whether or not i had cameras hidden in my house well done and perfectly executed.

Absolutely loved this! It was messy and sharp and had me totally hooked from page one. I couldn't put this book down. Astrid was insufferable in the best way possible, I couldn't help but root for her. I loved all of the references to Lesbian Pulp Fiction especially given how they were portrayed as I am not very well versed, and the other references to modern pop fiction were tasteful. overall I really enjoyed this.

This book was so fun! I'm glad that it is being published around the summer time because it is the perfect summer read. If this were a real perfume it'd have the following notes:
Top note - Citrus, beach water, white musk
Base note - Sandalwood, incense, desire

Desire is the underlying theme here. I haven't read a story that captures the experience of WLW quite like this one. While some may find it heavy-handed, I found it genuine and raw. I found that desire in this story is portrayed in an almost animalistic way-- not necessarily that WLW relationships itself are animalistic, but the feelings experienced in such relationships can be. I think Dorn handled that aspect masterfully.

Astrid Dahl is trying to "get healthy" and revive her lightly canceled writing career, but pesky toxic lesbians keep proving to be oh-so-sexy distractions. In her new bungalow in the hills of LA, Astrid gets sucked back into the world of lesbian pulp fiction (IRL), aided by her favorite vice—a lethal combo of amphetamines, alcohol and cigarettes called the Patricia Highsmith—and the bad behavior she tried so hard to kick only gets worse.

Perfume and Pain is propulsive, funny and highly engaging. The pages practically turned themselves as I watched Astrid fall to rock bottom, then slowly piece herself back together again. Astrid's voice leaps off the page from the very start, and her character is amazingly well-developed. She's problematic, witty, hilarious and chock-full of bad decisions, but I couldn't help but root for her the entire time. There are several laugh-out-loud funny moments, many more where I wanted to shake some sense into her, and others where I solemnly related to her bleak outlook.

Side characters like Astrid's friends, Otto and Zev, and the objects of her lusty affection, Ivy and Penelope, were less fleshed out. The latter made more sense than the former, and I wish we had a bit more of those friendships that Astrid's behavior threatened throughout the book.

The novel is also an ode to '50s and '60s lesbian pulp, a genre many lack familiarity with. There are tons of references to this body of work, and those unfamiliar like myself might miss some of them, on top of the parallels Dorn draws between her characters and the characters of works like "The Price of Salt" toward the end. There might have been bigger messages there as the novel wrapped up, but if there were, they went over my head.

Similarly, there are tons of modern-day pop culture references throughout. It might be a me thing, but I don't love this in novels—I find it dates fiction very quickly, making it a good book for today, but not for tomorrow.

Overall, though, this book was a fun, queer, messy-as-hell romp that fans of problematic lesbians will positively eat up.

<B>The Publisher Says: A controversial Los Angeles author attempts to revive her career and finally find true love in this hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction.</B>

Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightly canceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student who smells like metallic orchids and is researching 1950s lesbian pulp, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli.

Penelope, a painter living off Urban Outfitters settlement money, immediately ingratiates herself in Astrid’s life, bonding with her best friends and family, just as Astrid and Ivy begin to date in person. Astrid feels judged and threatened by Penelope, a responsible older vegan, but also finds her irresistibly sexy.

When Astrid receives an unexpected call from her agent with the news that actress and influencer Kat Gold wants to adapt her previous novel for TV, Astrid finally has a chance to resurrect her waning career. But the pressure causes Astrid’s worst vice to rear its head—the Patricia Highsmith, a blend of Adderall, alcohol, and cigarettes—and results in blackouts and a disturbing series of events.

Unapologetically feminine yet ribald, steamy yet hilarious, Anna Dorn has crafted an exquisite homage to the lesbian pulp of yore, reclaiming it for our internet- and celebrity-obsessed world.

<B>I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review</B>: Have you read Highsmith's <I>Carol </I>(aka <I>The Price of Salt</I>)? This has that particular kind of "Questa o Quella?" <I>Rigoletto</I>-but-sapphic-romance aura. And, follow-up concept, are you aware that Highsmith was a cruel, nasty piece of work? This has that same mean-creative story aura.

Having now hooked a few, driven a few off, and confused most, let's talk about lesbians. I'm the gay brother of a spiky, difficult lesbian. (She said so before I did! But, to be scrupulously fair, our entire family is/was spiky and difficult.) Astrid's 'tude is nowhere near as unkind as the reviews led me to believe it would be, by my own family's standards. What she is, that seems to surprise and unnerve the people around her in the story, is what I think interesting people usually are: Opinionated. I note without pleasure that opinionated women get miles of stick from persons of all genders and orientations. Just ask Hillary Clinton if you doubt me. It shows also in the readers' reviews I've seen around and about. Lots of people, even the ones who liked the story fine, commented on how abrasive Astrid was. Well, yeah. She's smarter than a solid 95% of the people around her. She's in a highly stressed passage in her life. She's abrasive because she's rubbed raw by her life.

Her happy place is perfume. Think about what that means. She collects something that is designed to hide and to enhance a person's most intimate quality, their smell. She doesn't even collect the stuff itself! She collects the containers...the carefully designed vessels that seduce the eyes but in and of themselves provide nothing but a space to be filled! The capitalist/consumer seductions carefully designed to increase your (largely female, as these are perfume bottles) cultural anxiety about your fundamental attractor or repeller of intimacy, smell!

This Anna Dorn, she knows her onions. Show me, please, another author whose depth of character development includes these intense sociopolitical shades whose prose isn't clunking, juddering, jelly-like didacticism. Author Dorn's got little enough competition in the witty-banter segment. She's sui generis in the segment of the Venn diagram where that overlaps anti-capitalist/feminist discourse.

Happily so. I'm glad Simon & Schuster offered me this DRC because, old gay man that I am, I hadn't heard of Author Dorn before. Now it's me for Vagablonde.

I see a few raised eyebrows contemplating an expected fifth star, after that gush. I wanted to put a fifth star on, I promise! I couldn't because Astrid being wishy-washy about Ivy-vs-Penelope was overplayed. I think will-they-won't-they is an easy trope to allow to outstay its actual usefulness. My perception is that this is what happened here. I'm also a wee bit wary of things like cancel culture/getting canceled being enshrined in stories that say bigger, more trenchant things about inclusion and cultural norms. It feels more like an add-on to use Astrid's canceling for her unguarded comments than an actual feature of the entire conversation the rest of the story is having about the greater issues abovementioned.

So okay, I didn't find myself sitting slackjawed, wondering how this author faceted this sparkling thousand-carat diamond. (That experience is what I call six-stars-of-five storytelling.) But make no mistake, this wordsmith will be on my readar as I wait for her to do just that.

It seems very likely to happen.

To be honest, I enjoyed it. Loved it. Could do without the pop culture references, but I guess when it's a millennial coming-of-age novel about women in LA, why not? All in all, I really did enjoy it. I liked it. I loved it. 9/10 would recommend.

I absolutely loved reading this book! Although it had some things I didn't like per se, I really enjoyed Perfume & Pain. The book follows the main character, Astrid, as she navigates the world of writing, manages relationships with multiple lovers, and seeks comfort in her vices to avoid confronting the challenges in her life and career. However, each character added a unique and refreshing element to the story, and I found myself fully engaged in their individual journeys as well.

The pacing was great, and the captivating writing style kept me eagerly turning pages. I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley & Simon for the ARC.

Genre: LitFic
Subgenres: Women vs. the void, unlikeable/morally gray FMC, lgbtq
Format: Print & digital
Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

Read if you: like LOTS of pop culture references, are into astrology, enjoy “all thoughts no plots”, can relate to unhealthy coping mechanisms or seeking external validation, have a habit of putting your foot in your mouth

In this story we follow Astrid, a recently semi cancelled lesbian author with bad habits including putting her foot in her mouth and seeking a dopamine rush in any way possible. Throughout the story we watch as she attempts (and sometimes fails) to get mentally and physically healthy.

This was my first read from @___adorn but it won’t be my last. First, I was obsessed with the writing style. Astrid had a sardonic brand of humor that really worked for me. She is very outspoken, judgmental, and self centered, often to her own detriment, and is really discovering herself in her early thirties throughout the story. She eventually begins to realize that her preconceived notions about others or herself may not not always be correct and that there is more to a person than how they make you feel about yourself or what they can do for you. Astrid basically reaches the inevitable milestone of the early thirties where she finally asks herself, “Am I the toxic one?” IYKYK 😂. This story is VERY character driven so if you don’t prefer that, you may want to steer clear. However, if you do enjoy “thoughts not plots”, then you will love this one.

perfume & pain really captures the feelings of inadequacy and an inflated ego. knowing you are not enough while being too much. honestly, we all have a bit of Astrid in us. it's so hard not to be selfish sometimes, but I love how Astrid turned those feelings into being selfish to be better to herself. I truly feel that she needed the last bender to finally complete the change in herself. I felt proud of her. she was no longer vapid and cringey but confident and content.

the Rollercoaster this book was kept me throughly entertained. we love an unhinged girl, but we love when she finally becomes the better version of herself because of it.

Anna Dorn’s novels hook me in with their enticing summaries and descriptions of “messy lesbians behaving badly,” and Perfume and Pain was just as good as it promised to be. Like with Exalted, I was on the edge of my seat and shocked with every page turn. The main characters always speak their minds and would be deemed “unlikeable” for their behavior, yet I was rooting for them the entire time.

As a writer, I love reading books about writers and hearing them struggle with the writing process. Astrid is a great example of that and overall a great multi-layered character. She’s witty, snarky, and sensitive, and like a lot of us — desperate to be chosen. This book felt so realistic and I was entertained and invested the entire time.

I’ve also never read a novel that spoke so much about lesbians lol. Everything under the sun is mentioned in this novel and I absolutely loved it. I had no knowledge of lesbian pulp going into this book, yet Dorn explained the genre so well that I left having an understanding and interest in it.

If you’re looking for messy, problematic queer girl (woman, whatever) representation, I would highly recommend this novel.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

Female rage with a butch bite, this is if Celine Sciamma cinema’d out of Silverlake.

Durn has written the greatest lesbian litfic romp since Pham’s Fantasian. Or even, as mentioned in the text, Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, or Carol.

Yearning. So much of it. With very LA dialogue. With so much wit. On perfect imperfect people and imperfect perfect people. On cancel culture. On how to move on yet squabbled with the wishy-washy daisy petals of does-she-like-me-or-like-me-not trope. It’s fun. It’s sexy. It’s the hot girl read of the summer. For my Lana girlies. For my Bret Easton Ellis fags. And the fag hags too.

Durn said HAGS in the yearbook of a life full of wanting outside of needing.

*wish the hysteria mixed with perfume was stronger in the middle, but faults to rush at the end. meanders in the middle, but it’s the very experience of yearning that I think works better here than perhaps in the middle of an Awad book.

Despite what I felt was a slow beginning, “Perfume and Pain” really got me invested towards the end. It mixes themes from classic lesbian pulp of the 50’s and 60’s while also commenting on lesbian culture in LA.

Astrid is a solidly successful writer living in LA, in the process of getting her novel adapted for the screen. She becomes infatuated with Ivy, a PhD student in her writing group Sapphic Scribes, who is writing a thesis on lesbian pulp– and confusedly becomes more and more obsessed with her neighbor Penelope, who she hated. As Astrid tries to navigate her relationships that are often filled with sex and toxicity, she begins to take a deeper look at herself and finds passion that she thought was gone.

To be honest, this novel was a learning experience for me. As someone who had never read lesbian pulp, I didn’t get a lot of the references, so I ended up having to do some Googling. It introduced me to this whole other culture within literature and kept me entertained through the end.

I felt like there was less of a “plot” per say, and more focusing on how Astrid is growing through different situations. The quips were funny and the characters quirky. It certainly was unique!

Astrid is so unlikable, especially at the beginning, but I found myself beginning to root for her? That’s how you know an author is skilled… when you begin to cheer on the unlikable characters. You begin to understand that she has an addiction to recreational drugs and rarely stays sober. She also finds herself in extremely toxic situations, and I believe finds it hard to maintain something healthy. She’s quick to anger, but that begins to fade towards the end. She starts to really take charge of her life and find herself in better and better situations.

Ivy was interesting because she’s an absolute TRAINWRECK of a person. Hot and cold and jealous and not–she’s kind of a nightmare, but that’s why she’s really entertaining. At first, I thought ‘aw having a relationship would be good for Astrid’. NO. NOT WITH IVY.

My favorite character of the entire novel was Kat Gold. She’s a super famous movie star wanting to play the lead in the film being adapted for Astrid’s novel. She’s extremely self-involved and constantly brings up her queerness. She really only cares for herself, and the way she’s written is honestly so hilarious.

If you’re into lesbian pulp fiction, then absolutely yes read this. Like I said, I have not read any prior to this, and felt like I was missing some of the plot. Of course, I recommend even if you’re just looking for something new this summer. It’s and definitely speeds up towards the end!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for lending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!