If you know me you know I was OBSESSED with exalted when I read it last year. I would talk about it to anyone who would listen and loved everyone who read it after I told them about it. Anna Dorn’s writing is so fun and fresh and nihilistic and silly in the most intelligent way possible. So of course I freaked out when I received an eARC of her newest novel set to be published May 21st of this year. Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster  for the arc in exchange for an honest review! 

Perfume and pain is a hilarious homage to 1950s lesbian pulp that is done in such a sharp witted way you can’t take your eyes off of. The novel tells the story of Astrid a mildly successful writer with a perfume obsession trying to revive her career in a zoom writers workshop after a recent event had her lightly blacklisted in the publishing world. Astrid may also have an addiction to love and sex with toxic women she knows are bad for and the drugs and alcohol they often provide her. We take a journey with Astrid as she tries to revive herself and her career while navigating the messy landscape that is her love and sex life. 

Dorn writes such unapologetically feral female characters who you can’t help but root for no matter the circumstance you’re introduced to them in. Her books are steamy and provocative and full of so much life. Every time I read her work I get sucked into the worlds she creates. I am best friends with these girls. I am making horrible life choices with them but I have agency and I’m smarter and sexier for it! Her books are honest and vulnerable and messy and honestly? We need more messy lesbian books! One might even call her compelling ;)