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Perfume & Pain
A controversial Los Angeles author attempts to revive her career and finally find true love in this hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction.
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.
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.
352 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2024
About the author
Anna Dorn
7 books347 followersAnna Dorn is the author of EXALTED, BAD LAWYER, and VAGABLONDE. She was a Lambda Literary Fellow and EXALTED was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. Her next book PERFUME & PAIN is forthcoming in May 2024 from Simon & Schuster. She lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 517 reviews
July 1, 2024
a book that dares to ask, “what if bojack horseman was a human lesbian?”
July 2, 2024
“i’ve always felt more comfortable with a new lover than an old friend”
January 6, 2024
A fluid but oblique and inventive literary homage to lesbian pulp – the title’s taken from Kimberley Kemp’s (aka Gilbert Fox) 1960s novel. Dorn’s narrative centres on flailing writer Astrid who’s living in LA and teetering on the edge of a personal abyss. Outspoken Astrid’s on the verge of being cancelled after an incident during a recent book tour, and she’s torn between two women: the oddly alluring but erratic Ivy, a PhD student who’s analysing lesbian pulp fiction and older, outwardly self-assured artist Penelope. Astrid’s drifting, trying to overcome an on-and-off addiction to recreational drugs and an equally damaging tendency towards relationships centred on sex, drama and toxic romance – dynamics that mirror lesbian pulp themes. Astrid’s spiky, openly scathing about everything and everyone around her, and irreverent in a way that often borders on offensive but she’s also acidly witty and shrewdly observant when it comes to LA’s creative, lesbian communities. Her struggles, her dating experiences, her thoughts about literature from Patricia Highsmith to Donna Tartt, her diatribes on her writing group Sapphic Scribes, on LA’s lesbian culture and her attempts to find a way to ditch the messier aspects of her existence were weirdly compelling, I was gripped throughout. Dorn’s style reminded me a little of authors like Halle Butler mixed with more than a dash of Emily M. Danforth, her story's packed with wry, pithy commentaries on contemporary American society; and despite Astrid’s less likeable qualities I couldn’t help rooting for her.
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Simon and Schuster for an ARC
Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Simon and Schuster for an ARC
June 20, 2024
“I think I can keep the hysteria at a distance, that it won’t affect me, that I can take the good—the mania, the spontaneity, the laughs—without the bad—the neediness, the aggression, the cruelty. And maybe people put up with me for the same reason.”
Incredibly sharp yet begging the reader to not take it too seriously, this messy, satirical homage to 60s lesbian pulp fiction is a wild ride as we follow our more than a little unlikeable narrator with some asinine takes as she continually is unable to keep her mouth shut and makes horrendous decisions while she is “trying” to get sober and make better decisions (it’s hard!). It’s an incredibly fun time as we watch Astrid Dahl as she is the worst person she’s ever been and probably ever will be and still somehow root for her to make it out on the other side, changed and okay. I really do love the unlikeable, messy narrator and haven’t read a lesbian one before this, so this was an incredibly fun time, and it was fun to hate, and somehow grow to love, Astrid Dahl.
“I never thought I’d be one of these people: threatened by the blank page. I used to love the blank page! Pristine and uncorrupted and filled with possibilities. But now all the possibilities seem certain to end in one way: with me embarrassing myself.”
Published author who is trying to write more and is in the middle of discussions for a movie deal, Astrid Dahl’s worst enemy is herself. She verifiably cancellable, doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, and her biggest vice is the Patti Highsmith—Adderall, alcohol, sativa, and cigarettes—which she is currently off of because of previous (problematic) things she has said and done while on it. She must be completely clean and take a break from the media in order to secure this deal and continue her deal. The issue? She can’t write without the Patti Highsmith and she is pretty shit at keeping her mouth shut. Self-described a being like Kanye West (eugh), Astrid kind of sucks right now and everyone is just tolerating her no matter what she tries. As she tries to stay clean, her older nosy neighbor, Penelope, and the 27-year-old newbie in her old writing group (once dubbed “the Lez Brat Pack,” now “Sapphic Scribes”), Ivy, as well as the stresses that are coming from being in the spotlight as an author are combining to make healing nearly impossible. As Astrid begins to succumb to her vices, things start going more and more downhill as she begins to lose herself more and more. This is more harmful for Astrid notes, “This is the hard part of being a writer for me, that idea that people can google me, that they might have a preconceived notion of me based on the things I type or say when I’m extremely caffeinated or very fucked up,” creating a bit of an endless cycle as being talked about is so hard for her so she gets messed up, then the things she says when she’s messed up get her even more talked about. While I started this despising Astrid and her views (she has some incredibly bad takes), this downward spiral started to make me. . . root for her? I started wanting so badly for her to get help and start succeeding and become a better person, which was honestly really nice for such a train wreck of a book. In some ways, she is just a relatable, messy, brutally honest character, which mixes really well with the parts of her that are quite awful. Even small moments like, “I put down Jeanette Winterson and my phone and open the door,” when she was “reading” all day made me warm to her a bit more, making sure she wasn’t a complete hateable menace.
“I’ve ordered a bunch [of perfume sampler sets] because I can’t commit to one scent, which is probably a metaphor, but anyway. . .”
As a perfume girlie who also has a completely normal amount of perfumes/samples (see image below), I have to give a moment for the perfume mentions, the tons of samples that Astrid goes through, her ability to detect notes and the perfumes that people are wearing, and just the way perfume is used throughout the book. While it isn’t a huge part of the book, it is such a fun little addition especially as it, as Astrid says, used a bit metaphorically, showing how she feels towards people and her own transition in life. I also now have notes on some of the perfumes mentioned that I absolutely need to try, which I love.
“I finally understand why people don’t black out. Sometimes life is worth catching.”
It's pulpy, it's satirical, it's a trainwreck, but what makes this book work so well for me really is the ending. This is the end of a messy person’s messiest time and we follow her as she really does start to learn a bit. It takes a while, but there is a relief at the end and a knowledge that maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay. While it is really fun to watch Astrid falling in a downward spiral, there is something really compelling about slowly growing attached to this privileged white girl who continually fucks up and seeing her begin to grow into someone who not only the reader, but Astrid herself can love and be at peace with.
“Exiting the freeway, I experience a brief moment of gratitude that I’m a lesbian. That I don’t have to get Botox or filler or a ponytail facelift because to do so would invite the male gaze, and it’s the female gaze I’m after, and we just want compelling, which is energetic and cannot be reduced to a visual. How a year ago I was so crushed to be thirty-five, I thought it indicated that my youth was over, that my life was over, that I’d aged out of being a party twink and therefore had nothing to look forward to. But now I realize my life is just starting. I’ve stopped being a dumb little provocateur, I keep my rude thoughts to myself, I’ve just written a love story, and men have finally stopped looking at me. I never believed Dan Savage when he said, ‘It gets better,’ but maybe I just hadn’t waited long enough.”
4/5
Incredibly sharp yet begging the reader to not take it too seriously, this messy, satirical homage to 60s lesbian pulp fiction is a wild ride as we follow our more than a little unlikeable narrator with some asinine takes as she continually is unable to keep her mouth shut and makes horrendous decisions while she is “trying” to get sober and make better decisions (it’s hard!). It’s an incredibly fun time as we watch Astrid Dahl as she is the worst person she’s ever been and probably ever will be and still somehow root for her to make it out on the other side, changed and okay. I really do love the unlikeable, messy narrator and haven’t read a lesbian one before this, so this was an incredibly fun time, and it was fun to hate, and somehow grow to love, Astrid Dahl.
“I never thought I’d be one of these people: threatened by the blank page. I used to love the blank page! Pristine and uncorrupted and filled with possibilities. But now all the possibilities seem certain to end in one way: with me embarrassing myself.”
Published author who is trying to write more and is in the middle of discussions for a movie deal, Astrid Dahl’s worst enemy is herself. She verifiably cancellable, doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, and her biggest vice is the Patti Highsmith—Adderall, alcohol, sativa, and cigarettes—which she is currently off of because of previous (problematic) things she has said and done while on it. She must be completely clean and take a break from the media in order to secure this deal and continue her deal. The issue? She can’t write without the Patti Highsmith and she is pretty shit at keeping her mouth shut. Self-described a being like Kanye West (eugh), Astrid kind of sucks right now and everyone is just tolerating her no matter what she tries. As she tries to stay clean, her older nosy neighbor, Penelope, and the 27-year-old newbie in her old writing group (once dubbed “the Lez Brat Pack,” now “Sapphic Scribes”), Ivy, as well as the stresses that are coming from being in the spotlight as an author are combining to make healing nearly impossible. As Astrid begins to succumb to her vices, things start going more and more downhill as she begins to lose herself more and more. This is more harmful for Astrid notes, “This is the hard part of being a writer for me, that idea that people can google me, that they might have a preconceived notion of me based on the things I type or say when I’m extremely caffeinated or very fucked up,” creating a bit of an endless cycle as being talked about is so hard for her so she gets messed up, then the things she says when she’s messed up get her even more talked about. While I started this despising Astrid and her views (she has some incredibly bad takes), this downward spiral started to make me. . . root for her? I started wanting so badly for her to get help and start succeeding and become a better person, which was honestly really nice for such a train wreck of a book. In some ways, she is just a relatable, messy, brutally honest character, which mixes really well with the parts of her that are quite awful. Even small moments like, “I put down Jeanette Winterson and my phone and open the door,” when she was “reading” all day made me warm to her a bit more, making sure she wasn’t a complete hateable menace.
“I’ve ordered a bunch [of perfume sampler sets] because I can’t commit to one scent, which is probably a metaphor, but anyway. . .”
As a perfume girlie who also has a completely normal amount of perfumes/samples (see image below), I have to give a moment for the perfume mentions, the tons of samples that Astrid goes through, her ability to detect notes and the perfumes that people are wearing, and just the way perfume is used throughout the book. While it isn’t a huge part of the book, it is such a fun little addition especially as it, as Astrid says, used a bit metaphorically, showing how she feels towards people and her own transition in life. I also now have notes on some of the perfumes mentioned that I absolutely need to try, which I love.
“I finally understand why people don’t black out. Sometimes life is worth catching.”
It's pulpy, it's satirical, it's a trainwreck, but what makes this book work so well for me really is the ending. This is the end of a messy person’s messiest time and we follow her as she really does start to learn a bit. It takes a while, but there is a relief at the end and a knowledge that maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay. While it is really fun to watch Astrid falling in a downward spiral, there is something really compelling about slowly growing attached to this privileged white girl who continually fucks up and seeing her begin to grow into someone who not only the reader, but Astrid herself can love and be at peace with.
“Exiting the freeway, I experience a brief moment of gratitude that I’m a lesbian. That I don’t have to get Botox or filler or a ponytail facelift because to do so would invite the male gaze, and it’s the female gaze I’m after, and we just want compelling, which is energetic and cannot be reduced to a visual. How a year ago I was so crushed to be thirty-five, I thought it indicated that my youth was over, that my life was over, that I’d aged out of being a party twink and therefore had nothing to look forward to. But now I realize my life is just starting. I’ve stopped being a dumb little provocateur, I keep my rude thoughts to myself, I’ve just written a love story, and men have finally stopped looking at me. I never believed Dan Savage when he said, ‘It gets better,’ but maybe I just hadn’t waited long enough.”
4/5
June 5, 2024
Girlfailure literature but make it lesbian, satirical and deliciously pulpy.
Perfume & Pain is paying homage to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction with all its drama and raunchy fuckery. It's in active conversation with The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith and the titular Perfume And Pain by Kimberly Kemp. Anywho, main character Astrid's a struggling writer whose career prospects look about as promising as her [failed] sobriety. Her heart's desire juggles between two women in the backdrop of contemporary LA with all its pop culture shroom-infused algorithmically artificial haze.
Astrid's uncalibrated personality is melodramatic and borderline feral and I couldn't help but feel gripped watching my fellow sister in peril be a walking disaster; seeing a problematic privileged white woman dig a hole for herself will probably always be entertaining to me. She's very much so unlikeable, but even when she's being scathing or didactic it all coalesces to form her biting charm. You know, at least she's mostly self aware, though I think someone needs to tell her about her raging mommy issues.
She's erratically funny in a 'say what now?' way that borders on being deadpan. The book embodies that feeling of loopy contentment after scarfing down hard seltzer in a dingy motel room, which I guess is redolent of Astrid's signature self-destructive bender named the 'Patricia Highsmith'—a concoction of alcohol, sativa, Adderall and cigarettes. If you have a name for your intoxication routine, you've probably got a problem. Frankly the 'Patricia Highsmith' was a supporting character in this book.
This was very much so a story that was actually written for queer folks (instead of masquerading as a queer/lesbian story which is in reality written to be 'palatable' for straight people 🙄), and it's especially written for lesbian and sapphic women, which made it so scrumptious. A sapphic book with a messy problematic lesbian doing messy problematic lesbian things with just the right amount of mania. Who would have thought that this pulpy romp would match my freak?
I wouldn't widely recommend this, though, it's for a very specific type of modern sapphic reader who loves polarizing characters and social commentary that is very pertinent to the contemporary queer zeitgeist, but make it a bit ridiculous in a pulpy, satirical, self aware way.
rating: 5 stars
Perfume & Pain is paying homage to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction with all its drama and raunchy fuckery. It's in active conversation with The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia Highsmith and the titular Perfume And Pain by Kimberly Kemp. Anywho, main character Astrid's a struggling writer whose career prospects look about as promising as her [failed] sobriety. Her heart's desire juggles between two women in the backdrop of contemporary LA with all its pop culture shroom-infused algorithmically artificial haze.
Astrid's uncalibrated personality is melodramatic and borderline feral and I couldn't help but feel gripped watching my fellow sister in peril be a walking disaster; seeing a problematic privileged white woman dig a hole for herself will probably always be entertaining to me. She's very much so unlikeable, but even when she's being scathing or didactic it all coalesces to form her biting charm. You know, at least she's mostly self aware, though I think someone needs to tell her about her raging mommy issues.
She's erratically funny in a 'say what now?' way that borders on being deadpan. The book embodies that feeling of loopy contentment after scarfing down hard seltzer in a dingy motel room, which I guess is redolent of Astrid's signature self-destructive bender named the 'Patricia Highsmith'—a concoction of alcohol, sativa, Adderall and cigarettes. If you have a name for your intoxication routine, you've probably got a problem. Frankly the 'Patricia Highsmith' was a supporting character in this book.
This was very much so a story that was actually written for queer folks (instead of masquerading as a queer/lesbian story which is in reality written to be 'palatable' for straight people 🙄), and it's especially written for lesbian and sapphic women, which made it so scrumptious. A sapphic book with a messy problematic lesbian doing messy problematic lesbian things with just the right amount of mania. Who would have thought that this pulpy romp would match my freak?
I wouldn't widely recommend this, though, it's for a very specific type of modern sapphic reader who loves polarizing characters and social commentary that is very pertinent to the contemporary queer zeitgeist, but make it a bit ridiculous in a pulpy, satirical, self aware way.
rating: 5 stars
February 20, 2024
Okay, stick with me here—the best way I can think to describe this absolute ride of a book is if you crossed Nora Ephron’s Heartburn with Bojack Horseman. I realize this makes no sense but that’s my opinion and I’m standing by it. (I do currently have COVID, and I might be slightly brainfogged, but that’s neither here nor there.)
This book is a lot like Heartburn in that it’s about a kind of unlikeable but incredibly specific character, one who is privileged and petty but understandably upset and frustrated with the way her life is going. It’s like Bojack Horseman because you get that same feeling of watching a train wreck, hoping it gets better, wondering if it gets better. It’s a similar style of satire.
Oh, and also, this book is a homage to classic 60s lesbian pulp, specifically to Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt. I kind of have no idea how Perfume and Pain works as well as it does, since it’s doing all these things at once, but it absolutely works.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC! This was the perfect distraction from my COVID suffering.
This book is a lot like Heartburn in that it’s about a kind of unlikeable but incredibly specific character, one who is privileged and petty but understandably upset and frustrated with the way her life is going. It’s like Bojack Horseman because you get that same feeling of watching a train wreck, hoping it gets better, wondering if it gets better. It’s a similar style of satire.
Oh, and also, this book is a homage to classic 60s lesbian pulp, specifically to Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt. I kind of have no idea how Perfume and Pain works as well as it does, since it’s doing all these things at once, but it absolutely works.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC! This was the perfect distraction from my COVID suffering.
May 28, 2024
perfume and pain is for the messy, unbothered girlies.
i read this one a couple of weeks ago and i'm still thinking about it. anna dorn became a favourite after i read vagablonde and then exalted (which was a fav of last year).
perfume and pain is messy and unapologetic with an unlikeable main character, astrid, whom you somehow also can't help but like because she is who she is and she doesn't try to hide it.
astrid is essentially a self-centered lesbian on a self-destructive path as she continues to avoid the responsibilities in her life.
through her self-destruction she is also painfully aware of what she's doing, which i think makes her such a unique and compelling character.
perfume and pain is the perfect blend of unhinged, self-destruction and humour that is as realistic as it is shocking.
anna dorn is a force in the literary world right now, and perfume and pain will be a book i know i revisit again.
if you're looking for something unhinged, chaotic and queer, perfume and pain is it.
it will likely be a fav of the year.
many thanks to @___adorn for sending this to me and @simonbooks.
P&P is out may 21!
i read this one a couple of weeks ago and i'm still thinking about it. anna dorn became a favourite after i read vagablonde and then exalted (which was a fav of last year).
perfume and pain is messy and unapologetic with an unlikeable main character, astrid, whom you somehow also can't help but like because she is who she is and she doesn't try to hide it.
astrid is essentially a self-centered lesbian on a self-destructive path as she continues to avoid the responsibilities in her life.
through her self-destruction she is also painfully aware of what she's doing, which i think makes her such a unique and compelling character.
perfume and pain is the perfect blend of unhinged, self-destruction and humour that is as realistic as it is shocking.
anna dorn is a force in the literary world right now, and perfume and pain will be a book i know i revisit again.
if you're looking for something unhinged, chaotic and queer, perfume and pain is it.
it will likely be a fav of the year.
many thanks to @___adorn for sending this to me and @simonbooks.
P&P is out may 21!
May 30, 2024
Have I read it yet? No.
Do I know that it will be a 5 star when I do? Yes.
Update: just finished it and I was correct.
Do I know that it will be a 5 star when I do? Yes.
Update: just finished it and I was correct.
December 30, 2023
This book was a ROLLER COASTER. I've never read any other Anna Dorn books (though I see I've had one on my TBR for a while now) and went in totally blind. All I knew is that it was going to be super gay, so obviously I was on board.
Astrid isn't meant to be a particularly likable character, and there were times when I was like, "Eh, this is veering a bit too close to cliche for me" — sardonic, depressed young woman who copes via drugs and alcohol addiction — but then there were little touches that made me LOL and go, "I mean, she ain't wrong!" that made me forget my skepticism and I loved her anyway. The perfume obsession hit me since it's an obsession of mine too — I'm impressionable so I immediately went and ordered a decant of Reine de Nuit. Leave me alone.
Dorn really captured a lot of thoughts that have run through my brain re: queer culture and delivered them in such a way that I kinda felt violated that she was inside my brain like that. To see some of these observations on the page was oddly hilarious but also kinda validating, so I loved that. This is definitely a book that's very Of Its Time in the sense that there are loads of pop culture references that make it feel very current (and will likely feel nostalgic in the future) but I loved it. Fast-paced, f**ked up (starring out since I don't know if my foul mouth is permitted on Goodreads), and a whole lot of fun.
Thanks to NetGalley as usual for the ARC!
Astrid isn't meant to be a particularly likable character, and there were times when I was like, "Eh, this is veering a bit too close to cliche for me" — sardonic, depressed young woman who copes via drugs and alcohol addiction — but then there were little touches that made me LOL and go, "I mean, she ain't wrong!" that made me forget my skepticism and I loved her anyway. The perfume obsession hit me since it's an obsession of mine too — I'm impressionable so I immediately went and ordered a decant of Reine de Nuit. Leave me alone.
Dorn really captured a lot of thoughts that have run through my brain re: queer culture and delivered them in such a way that I kinda felt violated that she was inside my brain like that. To see some of these observations on the page was oddly hilarious but also kinda validating, so I loved that. This is definitely a book that's very Of Its Time in the sense that there are loads of pop culture references that make it feel very current (and will likely feel nostalgic in the future) but I loved it. Fast-paced, f**ked up (starring out since I don't know if my foul mouth is permitted on Goodreads), and a whole lot of fun.
Thanks to NetGalley as usual for the ARC!
April 16, 2024
Fucking brilliant! Enough said.
April 17, 2024
Thank you Anna Dorn for sending this arc to me
She did it again! Last year I fell in love with Dorn’s Exalted, when I may not have shut up about it for a while and subtly encouraged a bunch of you to read it. Do I need to explain how feral I became for her latest?
I’ll cut to the chase and say I love this. Anna Dorn is our eyes and ears of LA culture. I love how she’s playing with autofiction and meta-textuality. I want to read Patricia Highsmith and all the lesbian pulp right now. And I’ll keep reading Dorn as long as she keeps writing.
Astrid is a millennial writer who may be just a little bit canceled after a book tour event at Barnes and Noble. Her last novel, that involved astrology, was optioned and now she has to deal with the actress heading the production company. She's trying to get her writing juices flowing again in a weekly group, but mostly ends up horny for Ivy, a PhD student. Astrid also has a new neighbor Penelope, a Gen X artist that feels a little too comfortable just barging in.
This book is messy and lesbian (Astrid would not want me to say queer or sapphic) as fuck. Astrid is trying to manage her life, continue her writing career, while fighting her addictions to drugs, alcohol, and toxic relationships. She’s messy, but self aware; perceptive, but almost too honest (her witty, cutting remarks almost always get her into trouble). What I’m saying is she’s self-destructive, but with layers. This makes for a juicy romp, but also, magically, gets you to root for her. I don’t know what it says about me that I didn’t find Astrid necessarily unlikeable. Maybe a snarky bitch is my type lol
Dorn manages to create stories that are not only hilarious and messy, but also smart and compelling. I read this in a day because I needed to know how it would all turn out for Astrid (and what was up with KStew) and what other thought on art and literature she would drop (I love all the Donna Tartt commentary, especially being one of the few people I know who love The Secret History audiobook). I guess this mirrors the obsession found within the pages.
This comes out in May and you NEED this for your summer reading.
She did it again! Last year I fell in love with Dorn’s Exalted, when I may not have shut up about it for a while and subtly encouraged a bunch of you to read it. Do I need to explain how feral I became for her latest?
I’ll cut to the chase and say I love this. Anna Dorn is our eyes and ears of LA culture. I love how she’s playing with autofiction and meta-textuality. I want to read Patricia Highsmith and all the lesbian pulp right now. And I’ll keep reading Dorn as long as she keeps writing.
Astrid is a millennial writer who may be just a little bit canceled after a book tour event at Barnes and Noble. Her last novel, that involved astrology, was optioned and now she has to deal with the actress heading the production company. She's trying to get her writing juices flowing again in a weekly group, but mostly ends up horny for Ivy, a PhD student. Astrid also has a new neighbor Penelope, a Gen X artist that feels a little too comfortable just barging in.
This book is messy and lesbian (Astrid would not want me to say queer or sapphic) as fuck. Astrid is trying to manage her life, continue her writing career, while fighting her addictions to drugs, alcohol, and toxic relationships. She’s messy, but self aware; perceptive, but almost too honest (her witty, cutting remarks almost always get her into trouble). What I’m saying is she’s self-destructive, but with layers. This makes for a juicy romp, but also, magically, gets you to root for her. I don’t know what it says about me that I didn’t find Astrid necessarily unlikeable. Maybe a snarky bitch is my type lol
Dorn manages to create stories that are not only hilarious and messy, but also smart and compelling. I read this in a day because I needed to know how it would all turn out for Astrid (and what was up with KStew) and what other thought on art and literature she would drop (I love all the Donna Tartt commentary, especially being one of the few people I know who love The Secret History audiobook). I guess this mirrors the obsession found within the pages.
This comes out in May and you NEED this for your summer reading.
July 3, 2024
If you like to read about messy lesbians making terrible decisions, this is the book for you. It’s also the perfect set piece for reading in public while sipping an iced lavender latte, though I must admit I was not then approached by a toxic lesbian who would briefly ruin my life. Maybe next time.
Personally, I love reading about deeply flawed sapphic characters—though Astrid would hate being called sapphic rather than lesbian. When I heard this was an homage to lesbian pulp fiction, I had to pick it up. I would say that characterization is fair: even without the mentions of lesbian pulp books and authors, this is melodramatic bordering on campy, so it does remind me of those 1960s stories.
I did enjoy reading this, even though I was rolling my eyes at Astrid half the time. On the other hand, I can confidently say I won’t be picking up any other titles by this author: spiraling downwards alongside a character like this is fun once, but just like reading lesbian pulp cover-to-cover, it’s not something I feel the urge to do again any time soon.
Content warnings for biphobia, ableism, drinking and driving, homophobic slurs, heavy drug and alcohol use (to the point of blackouts), among others.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
Personally, I love reading about deeply flawed sapphic characters—though Astrid would hate being called sapphic rather than lesbian. When I heard this was an homage to lesbian pulp fiction, I had to pick it up. I would say that characterization is fair: even without the mentions of lesbian pulp books and authors, this is melodramatic bordering on campy, so it does remind me of those 1960s stories.
I did enjoy reading this, even though I was rolling my eyes at Astrid half the time. On the other hand, I can confidently say I won’t be picking up any other titles by this author: spiraling downwards alongside a character like this is fun once, but just like reading lesbian pulp cover-to-cover, it’s not something I feel the urge to do again any time soon.
Content warnings for biphobia, ableism, drinking and driving, homophobic slurs, heavy drug and alcohol use (to the point of blackouts), among others.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
June 6, 2024
Anna Dorn's talent as a writer is evident...still, in terms of style and themes Perfume & Pain feels very been-there-done-that. it's like someone threw Mona Awad and Jen Beagin into a blender, but forgot to add that extra zing to it. and while Perfume & Pain tries to come across as self-aware, it often ends up feeling more like self-indulgence than offering anything truly meta or intertextual. review to come
April 11, 2024
“Oh how I love reading women”
— This bitch.
— This bitch.
July 1, 2024
This is one of those books I wanted to DNF during the first half but was glad to kept with it. The second half worked better for me. I’m not sure if the first half is just slow or Astrid just grated on me until I got used to her or what but by the end, I was happy to have read it all.
Astrid is written as unlikeable and I for sure did not like her. Some have said that she was charming but I didn’t find anything charming about her, I found her to be insufferable. She’s a writer trying to come up with her next book while also juggling a chaotic love life. However, she hides behind Adderall and alcohol, is narcissistic and wholly unreliable as a narrator.
They say this is a “hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction” but if it was, it went over my head. I’m almost positive I’ve never read anything classified as lesbian pulp. So please go read other reviews for that comparison.
I will say that Astrid’s commentary on Carole (The Price of Salt) did make me laugh. I was very happy to see a lesbian agree with me on how terrible Carole is. Astrid has lots of thoughts and I actually agreed with some of them. I wasn’t a fan of how she always relayed those thoughts but she wasn’t always wrong, although she often times was.
While I did get invested in Astrid and her story, I thought her growth came a little too late and while it didn’t come out of nowhere, it didn’t make sense how quickly it came about. The ending as a whole felt rushed after the slow start.
I don’t think everyone will love this but I do think some will absolutely love it. It’s very much one of those that you have to read and figure it out for yourself.
I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Astrid is written as unlikeable and I for sure did not like her. Some have said that she was charming but I didn’t find anything charming about her, I found her to be insufferable. She’s a writer trying to come up with her next book while also juggling a chaotic love life. However, she hides behind Adderall and alcohol, is narcissistic and wholly unreliable as a narrator.
They say this is a “hilarious nod to 1950s lesbian pulp fiction” but if it was, it went over my head. I’m almost positive I’ve never read anything classified as lesbian pulp. So please go read other reviews for that comparison.
I will say that Astrid’s commentary on Carole (The Price of Salt) did make me laugh. I was very happy to see a lesbian agree with me on how terrible Carole is. Astrid has lots of thoughts and I actually agreed with some of them. I wasn’t a fan of how she always relayed those thoughts but she wasn’t always wrong, although she often times was.
While I did get invested in Astrid and her story, I thought her growth came a little too late and while it didn’t come out of nowhere, it didn’t make sense how quickly it came about. The ending as a whole felt rushed after the slow start.
I don’t think everyone will love this but I do think some will absolutely love it. It’s very much one of those that you have to read and figure it out for yourself.
I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 9, 2024
took me ages to get through despite not being a remotely challenging read. what i'm tired of is protagonists whose "unlikability" is "cancellability" and ensembles whose character interactions and reactions are first drafts of presumed online responses. i'm bored. it doesn't help when i'm the target audience (gay woman who can tell when the protagonist is described as wearing a stora skuggan perfume even when the author didn't use the brand name), in fact it makes it worse. i can read twitter + fragrantica on my own time, come up with something else.
January 18, 2024
thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced digital arc of one of my most anticipated reads of the year. it did not disappoint.
this book comes out May 21, 2024 and i need you all to run, not walk, to preorder it.
--
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 (heeeey Exalted).
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.
this book comes out May 21, 2024 and i need you all to run, not walk, to preorder it.
--
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 (heeeey Exalted).
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.
December 24, 2023
We need more more messy and just a bit problematic lesbian rep like this- sincerely, a messy (possibly problematic) lesbian.
4.25/5
This book was such a hilarious ride into the world of writers, LA lesbians, cancel culture, toxic relationships and more. It's sharply written clever satire, yet it still has a lot of heart while exploring many complicated topics with nuance.
Astrid is such a great main character and so interesting to follow. Strangely relatable too, and of course hilarious. I adored her. This book also homages lesbian pulp of yore, while also critically examining it. It gave me a new appreciation for lesbian pulp.
I did have a few issues with the pacing of the book, which I felt could have been tightened in certain parts and did think some resolutions could possibly have been a bit more expanded. However, I still really enjoyed it.
If any of what I mentioned sounds interesting to you, or if you just want to laugh(cause this is the funniest book I've read all year), I'd highly recommend picking this up.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.25/5
This book was such a hilarious ride into the world of writers, LA lesbians, cancel culture, toxic relationships and more. It's sharply written clever satire, yet it still has a lot of heart while exploring many complicated topics with nuance.
Astrid is such a great main character and so interesting to follow. Strangely relatable too, and of course hilarious. I adored her. This book also homages lesbian pulp of yore, while also critically examining it. It gave me a new appreciation for lesbian pulp.
I did have a few issues with the pacing of the book, which I felt could have been tightened in certain parts and did think some resolutions could possibly have been a bit more expanded. However, I still really enjoyed it.
If any of what I mentioned sounds interesting to you, or if you just want to laugh(cause this is the funniest book I've read all year), I'd highly recommend picking this up.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 5, 2024
Genuinely? One of the best lesbian novels I’ve read in a minute. Originally in my notes I had written that this novel is not your typical lesbian novel, but honestly from every reference it’s pulling from you could say this novel represents and molds a solid piece of classic lesbian fiction. The hard, hot, obsessive piece that is isn’t dictated by love or ~yearning~ itself but by primal desire and affliction of oneself. Astrid is not initially a good woman, but a highly relatable woman in that she is innately aware of her shortcomings to a fault. The kind of self aware where you can convince yourself you don’t actually need to change and can keep falling into the same traps because hey, it’s all worked out for you before! There is so much mess and yet I find myself so invested in Astrid and her sordid happenstances.
Thank you so much to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the arc <3
Thank you so much to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the arc <3
May 25, 2024
Major thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:
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.
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.
January 13, 2024
2.5 rounded up i think.
thank you netgalley for the arc!
this book should’ve worked for me. this book had everything i typically love: gay characters, drugs, sex, intense relationships, discussion of important life values. but it didn’t hit the mark.
the writing is good, but it drags. it’s too current, too much “stan”, “cunty”, contemporary fiction. in the first 120 pages i considered dnf-ing multiple times. and while eventually i actually got into the characters and wanted to read the book, i shouldn’t have had to fight to love it in the first half.
Astrid, although far from perfect, is a great main character. a little dense and stupid, but she is very well fleshed out in this book. very unreliable as a narrator, very easy to hate and then see yourself in a little and then understand. as for every other character…i couldn’t stand. everyone was simply added to further move the story along with giving anything really to the story.
i feel like those who enjoyed My Year of Rest and Relaxation will love this book. The girls and gays who get it will get it. But i’m a girl and gay who didn’t.
thank you netgalley for the arc!
this book should’ve worked for me. this book had everything i typically love: gay characters, drugs, sex, intense relationships, discussion of important life values. but it didn’t hit the mark.
the writing is good, but it drags. it’s too current, too much “stan”, “cunty”, contemporary fiction. in the first 120 pages i considered dnf-ing multiple times. and while eventually i actually got into the characters and wanted to read the book, i shouldn’t have had to fight to love it in the first half.
Astrid, although far from perfect, is a great main character. a little dense and stupid, but she is very well fleshed out in this book. very unreliable as a narrator, very easy to hate and then see yourself in a little and then understand. as for every other character…i couldn’t stand. everyone was simply added to further move the story along with giving anything really to the story.
i feel like those who enjoyed My Year of Rest and Relaxation will love this book. The girls and gays who get it will get it. But i’m a girl and gay who didn’t.
June 19, 2024
-- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
ironically, i have a love-hate relationship with my reading of this novel. it was racy, tornado, neurotic, lesbian... all things i love! but it was also insufferable at times, and doing roundabouts. i guess it's the point a bit, as it's supposed to mimic dynamics in 1950s lesbian pulp fictions.
at the core of this novel is astrid dahl - to read this novel is to learn about her. astrid is this well-fleshed out recovering addict and cancelled writer who probably has undiagnosed adhd and is chronically online (as reflected in the voice). as a character, she's fun, trashy, interesting and so very unlikeable. like i'd hate to be her friend. the novel, and astrid, was fast-paced, weirdly compelling if at times i needed a break from it all, feeling overfed.
i also found that astrid's character was a bit of a mouthpiece. while astrid did her best to at times not be slightly offensive, i found that she was critical at times, others, she was a bit skewed and had underdeveloped opinions. she's knowledgeable here, and then totally ignorant over there (and when it wouldn't really make sense since they would be interlinked, sorta). i was just scratching my head as to how it could be in one character... but it's astrid dahl so oh well! as for other characters, i liked them well enough in my head but they were weaker compared to the main character - they kinda stayed closer to prototypes.
astrid is a 'cancelled' writer as i have said. but i find personally that this cancellation aspect was not full brought to its fullest. it should have been more forward in my opinion, bcs it's a rather rare thing to be one self be the subject of cancellation - the internet makes it seems like everyone is getting cancelled left and right but really it happens to a very small percentage of people on this planet. the opportunity for a more thorough exploration was there and missed unfortunately. it would have been even more interesting especially when it wasn't even bad and that 'cancellation' isn't even a cancellation (homegirl is still getting a movie for her books even after the backlash). it was set to be a rather prominent thing in the story but it was mostly used as a prop for conversation.
overall, i like it enough to be now intrigued by anna dorn's previous works but i would have changed a fair bit of it.
ironically, i have a love-hate relationship with my reading of this novel. it was racy, tornado, neurotic, lesbian... all things i love! but it was also insufferable at times, and doing roundabouts. i guess it's the point a bit, as it's supposed to mimic dynamics in 1950s lesbian pulp fictions.
at the core of this novel is astrid dahl - to read this novel is to learn about her. astrid is this well-fleshed out recovering addict and cancelled writer who probably has undiagnosed adhd and is chronically online (as reflected in the voice). as a character, she's fun, trashy, interesting and so very unlikeable. like i'd hate to be her friend. the novel, and astrid, was fast-paced, weirdly compelling if at times i needed a break from it all, feeling overfed.
i also found that astrid's character was a bit of a mouthpiece. while astrid did her best to at times not be slightly offensive, i found that she was critical at times, others, she was a bit skewed and had underdeveloped opinions. she's knowledgeable here, and then totally ignorant over there (and when it wouldn't really make sense since they would be interlinked, sorta). i was just scratching my head as to how it could be in one character... but it's astrid dahl so oh well! as for other characters, i liked them well enough in my head but they were weaker compared to the main character - they kinda stayed closer to prototypes.
astrid is a 'cancelled' writer as i have said. but i find personally that this cancellation aspect was not full brought to its fullest. it should have been more forward in my opinion, bcs it's a rather rare thing to be one self be the subject of cancellation - the internet makes it seems like everyone is getting cancelled left and right but really it happens to a very small percentage of people on this planet. the opportunity for a more thorough exploration was there and missed unfortunately. it would have been even more interesting especially when it wasn't even bad and that 'cancellation' isn't even a cancellation (homegirl is still getting a movie for her books even after the backlash). it was set to be a rather prominent thing in the story but it was mostly used as a prop for conversation.
overall, i like it enough to be now intrigued by anna dorn's previous works but i would have changed a fair bit of it.
June 9, 2024
quick read, writing style is amusing but a bit juvenile. i’m of the opinion that an author should use the word “limerance” at most one MAYBE twice in a novel so the author was really pushing it. fun to read in the present day but i think it will feel incredibly dated and a bit corny in little time with how topical much of it is. feel very seen at times and at others i find astrid unbelievably annoying and the lack of any personal progress she makes until the very end of the book feels frustrating and a bit un-earned. and, despite the self awareness, some of her opinions are incredibly grating and don’t feel satisfactorily resolved in the end. ultimately i was entertained and engrossed which is what i actually wanted from a book like this so more of a 3.5 i think.
February 22, 2024
This will go down as one of my favorite books. It was queer and curious and funny and moving. It was a masterclass in delusion and storytelling. It showed complex queer relationships in a way that held truth while simultaneously acting as a caricature with high entertainment value. I was blown away from the first sentence. I consumed this novel greedily and quickly. I feel so lucky to have gotten an early proof.
May 18, 2024
I mean we all knew absolutely unhinged fucked up women are my jam. messy and spiky, seductive and venomous, a perfect homage to lesbian pulp
July 1, 2024
i was audiobooking this through most of last month to keep me occupied since i knew i’d be doing a lot of driving and still wanted to feel productive during that time. now that it’s over i feel a bit sad and like i could’ve continued to listen to the characters’ lives go on for ten more hours. part one and two were both witty and entertaining. i was hooked and was finding any excuse to listen. come part three though, it felt a bit rushed to wrap things up and show the main character’s growth and i didn’t like assssss much, but still fun. it was a romp for sure!
May 2, 2024
a super campy, delightfully messy spin on the lesbian pulp fiction novel. this is my second anna dorn book, and like with the previous book i read by her, the writing is current and approachable, and the characters are as unlikeable as they are realistic. perfume & pain was chock-full of satirical commentary and characters putting themselves into absolutely wild trainwrecks of relationships that you as a reader cannot look away from, despite how wrong they are. i feel like this is a book that people are either going to love or hate, and i definitely fall into the former camp. highly recommend to anyone who loves messy sapphic fiction!
thank you to the publisher for sending a digital ARC my way via Edelweiss!
thank you to the publisher for sending a digital ARC my way via Edelweiss!
May 14, 2024
wanted to like this sooo bad. very relatable but i was bored im sorry😵💫
June 25, 2024
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!
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!
June 27, 2024
This probably ended up as a solid 3.5ish read, for me. It was a little slow to start, but once I got into it I really didn’t want to put it down. Its my first by this author, (it was my pick for the aardvark book sub) and I’ll see be checking out her other works. Astrid is def a handful, and while there is a LOT abt her that is very much not my life, there was also a lot of her that I resonated with in some ways, and frankly, I’m delighted to see someone who had some similar feelings abt the film Carol, bc every other lesbian seems to be enamored with it. Maybe one day I’ll read my copy of the price of salt, but mostly just bc of lesbian history reasons.
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