This is the vibe of every LA, lit-fic-cool-girl summer and I am living for it!

Astrid is objectively an unlikable MC - self-centered, self-destructive, but... self aware (and sick of it). She oscillates between desiring what she thinks every thirty-something wants/should have: youth and health, career success, and a passionate steady love; yet she cannot help but slip back into old cyclical patterns of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, aaaaand toxic relationships. It's the perfect concoction of messy, hilarious, compelling, and nonchalance that I just couldn't get enough of.

I loved Dorn's representation of queer and femme lesbian culture, both the cliches and the nuances. I just couldn't help but really rooting for Astrid to get it together and get through it. Where was I left? Craving a cappuccino, a beer, a new perfume, and Anna Dorn's entire backlist. 5 Stars.

Perfume and Pain is a tongue-in-cheek romp through the pulpiest, most self-loathing and self-destructive lesbian experience. If you can imagine the Price of Salt meets Fleabag meets the L Word on a helluva lot of amphetamines, you'll have the perfect recipe for Perfume and Pain.

Astrid Dahl (no relation to Roald) knows she's abraisive, off-putting, maybe even unlikeable, like Patricia Highsmith author and undercover lesbian pulp writer. Which is why Astrid takes a cocktail of drugs she calls the Patricia Highsmith to be the opposite of those things: smooth, charming, adorable.

And she is, mostly, until an inebriated rant at Barnes and Noble gets her "cancelled." Astrid is determined to get healthy--swapping her addictions to the Particia Highsmith, astrology, and microwave dinners for her addiction to serial relationships.

She falls hard for Ivy, a member of her writing group 'Sapphic Scribes' (a name she hates) while trying to get healthy in her LA bungalow without her pills and the intervention of her Rachel Weisz-esque artist neighbor Penelope.

But as Astrid's relationship with Ivy encourages her absolute worst impulses, she starts to develop feelings for her neighbor with big Carol energy, and Kat Gold, the actress adapting her book, is using her for paparazzi clout, Astrid needs to make some big changes before she becomes another doomed lesbian.

Written in first person from Astrid's wretched and wonderful point of view, Perfume and Pain is a deft satire--smart and self-referential to Anna Dorn's career, but it's also a love letter to lesbian media: the good, the bad, and the so bad it's good.

I am so thankful to Simon Audio, Anna Dorn, Netgalley, and Simon and Schuster for the #gifted ALC and digital access before this sapphic baby hits shelves on May 21, 2024.

We definitely love a messy, unhinged character development arc hitting all the 1950s lesbian pulp fiction vibes. Astrid Dahl is a controversial character who can’t keep her filter contained and is easily distracted by her sexy literary cohorts as she struggles to not get canceled and stay sober.

Perfume and Pain is just that plus all vibes and almost zero plot. Paying homage to pulp from the times before, this book had me cackling and blushing at the same time, all in the name of feminist literature. I couldn’t get enough.

Perfume and Pain is a fluid and inventive literary homage to lesbian pulp, a genre I knew little about going in, but still enjoyed the homage immensely. The narrative centers on Astrid, a flailing writer living in LA finding that her destructive habits are less charming the further she gets from thirty. Dorn masterfully weaves a story packed with wry, pithy commentaries on contemporary American society, making it both thought-provoking and darkly humorous.

I instantly fell in love with Astrid, a messy and unapologetic character, who embodies self-destruction and raw honesty. Perfume and Pain is the perfect blend of self-destruction and humor, making it a compelling read. It's an inventive narrative that, while messy at times, remains unapologetic and true to its core.

Anna Dorn has done it again! Just like with Exhalted, Perfume and Pain is a hilarious book with lesbian leads who create a world around everyone’s favorite subject - cancel culture. This book continues my trend of unlikeable/women spiraling characters. Can’t wait to tell everyone I know about this one. Thank you Simon Books for this advanced copy!

This was a really fun, pulpy, sapphic number. I always love a look into the lives of writers and creatives and, in general, She’s Not Doing Well At All books. The characters were perfect for the story. I think this will do well among fans of Kristen Arnett, Carmen Maria Machado, Melissa Broder, Emma Cline, and the like.

Overview: Astrid Dahl dropped out of law school to be a novelist, and her career leap of faith has paid off ever since. She's published multiple books, had them optioned to become movies, and managed to make an adulthood solely supported by literary pursuits. But Astrid is also battling addiction issues and an inability to skirt putting her foot in her mouth in public. She's been minorly cancelled more times than she can count both publicly online and in her own writing group. Astrid wants to get her life together; she wants to be a better person. But she's not entirely sure how to do that. Overall: 4

Characters: 4 Astrid is that perfect archetype of the "unlikable" character. She says and does plenty of things that are objectively not great. She doesn't care all that much about who she hurts with what she says, and she's incredibly self-centered. But she's not irredeemable by any means. There is something that I at least found very compelling about Astrid's tries and fails at figuring out her life. If we're being super honest, I relate a certain amount to Astrid's accidental abrasiveness as she navigates her relationships. I found her compelling throughout the book, and I wanted to see her ultimately succeed.

The other characters that fill out Astrid's world are detailed and interesting, but I feel like they're better experienced through reading the book yourself than me trying to describe them.

Plot: 4 This is a pretty slice of life oriented story with some larger-than-life LA characters that give the book a propulsive energy. It also has great pacing, so even though we're only charting Astrid's progress to become more of the person she wants to be, the book is a fast read. Despite my life being super busy as I was reading this book, I tried to make time most days to read a few pages and that usually turned into a few chapters going late into the night because I was so enthralled, particularly by Astrid's voice and way of viewing the world.

The book is vivid and full of energy. My only negative comment when it comes to the story arc is that there's a chapter around 88% of the way through the book that would've been the perfect ending, but then the book goes on for quite a few more chapters and starts to drag for the first time. It felt like the author was over-explaining the ending and didn't quite trust the reader enough. She crafted the perfect, slightly ambiguous but satisfying ending and then decided to steamroll right through that to give a much more explicit finale.

Writing: 4 Perfume and Pain is making me want to read all of Anna Dorn's other books. The characters are so rich and interesting. She does a good job of writing about a writer, which can sometimes be difficult to pull off. I also appreciate how certain themes and ideas are woven through the entirety of the novel like how Astrid's obsession with lesbian pulp novels manifests in the story in a number of surprising and interesting ways. The little callbacks throughout the book made it feel perfectly tied together and thematically aware of itself.

Writing a good book about a writer who is trying to write a book is a difficult, yet much attempted, feat. I feel like Perfume and Pain strikes a perfect balance of self awareness, detail on an insider look at publishing, and external story to make the book work.

What a funny, weird, interesting book! This novel is unlike anything I've read in recent memory. It's quickly paced, almost frenetic at times, which I found deeply engaging from page one. Every character was buckwild in their own way, and I often found myself pulling the "one more chapter" after someone made a particularly unbelievable choice. I will admit here that I have approximately zero knowledge of 1950s lesbian pulp fiction, so I'm sure folks who do have that background would find some deeper layers and references in this book than I did, but I still had a good time and would recommend this for a quick beach or vacation read.

Astrid Dahl is an accomplished author with three published books about fame to her credit. After an unfortunate incident at a Barnes & Noble, and without the crutch of the “Patricia Highsmith,” a cocktail of alcohol, Adderall and cigarettes, she hasn’t been able to write. Fearing that her agent, “Agent Allison,” would rather spend her energy on clients who make her more money and have a better attitude, and seeking inspiration before she becomes a “godforsaken paralegal,” Astrid returns to an on-line writing group that she had founded 10 years ago “with some dykes I met on Tumblr.” There she meets Ivy, a PhD candidate at UCSB, with a taste for butch women. Although Ivy reciprocates Astrid’s interest, it is clear to Astrid that Ivy “is the precise situation that I’ve committed myself to avoiding.”

Astrid is supported by her college friends, Zev, an “esoteric nerd who manages a bookstore and “never seems to care when I lash out at him, which makes him an ideal friend,” and Otto, a “bitchy party boy,” who works in public relations. Enter Penelope, Astrid’s older neighbor who lives in the adjacent bungalow, and is “still very pretty.” Astrid initially writes Penelope off as a nosy, self righteous dyke, but all of her friends are quickly under Penelope’s spell, and Astrid becomes attracted to Penelope, too. In addition, Astrid is feted by Kat Gold, a movie star who “preys on tragic dykes all the time” and has optioned one of Astrid’s books.

Dorn has crafted a fun beach read with lots of witticisms from Astrid about the craft of writing: “Writing is just typing, and typing is much easier than most things.” “I don’t write because I’m brave; I write because I’m afraid of leaving my house.” Astrid also has a lot to say about lesbians. In discussing her former girlfriend who was a lot of fun until she got scary, Astrid reasons that “Lesbians have trouble letting go.” She also posits that “Lesbians don’t hate men; straight women hate men. Lesbians are indifferent to men, which everyone else hates.” Thank you Simon & Schuster and Net Galley for this entertaining and smart romp through cancel culture, writing and lesbian culture.

Messy, unlikable, and a little unhinged FMC who can't be bothered by what people think? She literally referenced My Year of Rest and Relaxation AND RHONY Scary Island within the first 30% of the book. Sold. This is going to be a favorite book of mine...possibly of all time.

This is for my weird girlies who love unlikable and spiraling FMC! Read this book!

Thank you S&S and NG for the ARC!

This messy, yet fluid literary lesbian pulp fiction, is the type of book we all need in our lives. Though the beginning felt a little slow as we take a dive into Astrid’s world, words keep flowing and the desire to put this book down becomes nonexistent. I craved the problematic tension and tendencies laced in the pages, having you begging the characters to change their choices while simultaneously devouring the mess written before you. It is funny, it is moving, and it shows the complex queer relationships that are often overlooked in the literary world. If you have this on your list to read, move it up to the top!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Perfume and Pain follows author Astrid Dahl as she distracts herself from trying to save her writing career with two different women and a whole host of substances.

This book is messy, and crazy, and maybe even a little problematic, but above all it is funny and it is fun. Astrid Dahl is not a likable character, but really neither is anyone else in this book, so her faults are excusable. The nods to 50s lesbian pulp are immaculate, and the self awareness of our character and the narrative are beautifully compelling even in their ridiculousness.

I don't know if this book is for everyone, mostly because, whoo, what a rollercoaster, but I do think it is a really interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking read, and I love that it accomplishes all of that without feeling boring or alienating like litfic can sometimes be.

I enjoyed Anna Dorn’s memoir, Bad Lawyer, so I decided to pick up her newest fiction offering.

Perfume and Pain is a love story focusing on Astrid Dahl, a lesbian writer who was cancelled when she self-proclaimed herself a “faggot” at a Barnes and Noble Reading. Astrid hasn’t put out any new work since her exile, and she’s been putting more effort into her relationship with Patricia Highsmith (addarall) and relationships she knows are not good for her because the coincide with the drugs and booze. Astrid’s older work is being optioned by a celebrity model and she has to keep it together to get that production made to get paid. On top of that, she’s continuing to date women who are wrong for her. Dorn’s writing is fresh and kept me invested in the book.

My thoughts: This book was not for me and it’s my fault. I do like to go into books blind, but that is not always a good idea. Perfume and Pain is a romance and I am a very prickly romance reader and only read like 3 a year. So, if I knew this was a straight romance, I would have not read it. However, if you like romance, this is a good pick.

This book is smart and funny. Gave me a Melissa Broder vibe but even more gay. I was thoroughly entertained.

This book has a lot of buzz around it so I am bummed that it is not working for me. I love changing up my reading options and dipping into different genres and this one sounded so intriguing based on the synopsis.

I am enjoying the writing style but this book just isn’t for me. I am DNF’ing at 12% because I just cannot connect to the characters. Should I keep going? That’s the dilemma I face and why I always struggle so hard with not finishing a book. Ultimately there are too many page turners for me to stick to something I am not enjoying.

Thank you anyway to @SimonBooks #SimonBooksBuddy for the free book.

i adored this book. it was laugh out loud funny and i quite enjoyed the main character. it was a really refreshing read because i think we are used to reading about politically correct characters that have no bad thoughts and this was not that. it felt like grown up glee and i mean that as the highest compliment.

If you like matching your perfume to your outfit, toxic romantic relationships, and books about writers in the age of social media, I highly recommend this novel. As a perfume lover, I loved the representation of a fragrance-addicted person as the main character in "Perfume and Pain." I also was not familiar with the genre of lesbian pulp, and this novel was a fun "meta" way to learn about it. It also reminded me a little of "Yellowface," with the way the protagonist interacted with social media and her management and publicity teams and the public. I also appreciated that the main character pushes herself and experiences growth, so it's somewhat a "feel-good" reading experience, which I did not expect going into it. Overall this was a 5 star read for me and I can't wait to read the rest of Anna Dorn's work!

2.5 stars rounded up. This book was incredibly slow to start and it took me a long time to become invested in Astrid Dahl, a lost, formerly successful novelist whose addictions and impulsivity have landed her in a serious rut. She’s supposed to be getting healthy, no more drugs, no more women, and no talking to journalists, but she keeps finding herself in the same destructive patterns.
The title, Perfume and Pain, a nod to the 50’s and 60’s era lesbian pulp that the book is a self-reported homage to, also references Astrid’s obsessions with both. Every experience is carefully coupled with a particular scent Astrid selects for the occasion, and usually ends in pain. It should be a powerful theme that weaves the novel together, but it fell flat for me and just came across as trite.
I struggled to get through the first 60% of this book, then I was really invested in Astrid for about 15%, then I got annoyed with how the deus ex machine revelation changed everything about Astrid’s perspective and approach almost instantaneously and was really only back with the story for the last scene between Astrid and Penelope.
It is not a genre I have a broad range of experience with, so I’m not able to contextualize the novel in a meaningful literary way, but I would not recommend it to many people.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC. I appreciated the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Anna Dorn, and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Obsessed with this!!! Literally like lesbian candy in such a fun way; this book was juicy and dramatic, and I simply couldn't put it down. This is my favorite kind of "unlikeable" narrator who is definitely kooky and unlikeable at parts but still someone who you root for at the end of the day. Astrid cracked me up so many times throughout, and I could definitely relate to some of her complicated feelings throughout. I'm not super familiar with lesbian pulp novels, but I sure do want to explore the genre now!! All the side characters were charming or crazy, and I just had a really great time reading this. Definitely checking out Dorn's other works now!

I'm going to be the outlier. A chaotic dark comedy/satire that I admittedly struggled with, especially in the beginning. Astrid is a mess, a mess of her own making and of others- but I liked her. It's all the other stuff that was just a bit too much for me, especially the cancellation and the twitter and all the other pop culture references which likely will resonate more with others. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Dorn clearly has her finger on the pulse of her community.