Book Review: Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Patient Name: Leigh Nolan Age: 18 years Presenting Concerns: Leigh Nolan has just started her first year at Stiles College. She has decided to major in psychology (even though her parents would rather she study Tarot cards than Rorschach blots), despite reporting that she thinks, "Psychology is a load of crap." Patient has always been very good at helping her friends with their problems, but when it comes to solving her own...not so much. Patient has a tendency to overanalyze things, particularly when the opposite sex is involved. Like why doesn't Andrew, her boyfriend of over a year, ever invite her to spend the night? Or why can't she commit to taking the next step in their relationship? And why does his roommate Nathan dislike her so much? More importantly, why did Nathan have a starring role in a much-more-than-friendly dream? Aggravating factors include hyper-competitive fellow psych majors, a professor who's badly in need of her own psychoanalysis, and mentoring a middle-school-aged girl who thinks Patient is, in a word, nave. Preliminary treatment will include Introduction to Psychology, but may require more if she's going to answer these questions and make it through her freshman year. Diagnosis: Psych Major Syndrome

I actually picked this up after reading some reviews on Goodreads, and I really enjoyed it. Of course, I'm a psychology major who over analyzes everything.

Characters: Leigh (real name: Tuesday), is stuck in a dead-end relationship, analyzes everything that happens around her, and is feeling immense pressure to decide what she plans to do for her senior project. Of course, she's only a freshman. To make things worse, she ends up spending time with younger girls, as part of a mentoring program. While there wasn't a lot of school work mentioned (apparently Leigh can whip out an "A" paper hours after it's due), I did feel like the pressures of college were very present in the book. Over the course of the book, Leigh was able to actually learn from the people around her, particularly the girls that she spent time mentoring. The girls ended up having a reciprocal relationship, with Leigh getting as much advice as she was giving.

Plot: Overall, I really enjoyed the plot. It was fairly obvious how it was going to end, and I didn't really mind. In fact, without giving away any spoilers, that was exactly how I wanted it to end. There were a few times that I was screaming at Leigh in my head, but psych majors are infamous for ignoring what's right in front of them (I should know, haha). I also really enjoyed the humor throughout the book. I've noticed that some of the humor in YA books, and all genres, seems to forced. Maybe it's because slang is constantly being updated, and pop culture references get outdated just as quickly. This book never felt forced to me, which is always a plus. It was a bit fluffy toward the end, just as a warning.

As an added bonus, I got some review on some Intro to Psych theories

I can't wait to read more from Thompson!

Psych Major Syndrome
By Alicia Thomspon
Published by Hyperion
336 Pages
Rating: A-