Psych Major Syndrome
Alicia Thompson
336 pages
ISBN: 9781423114574
Read 6-27-12
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Using the skills you’ve learned so far in Introduction to Psychology, please write a brief self-assessment describing how things are going in your freshman year.
Presenting Concerns:
The Patient, Leigh Nolan (that would be me), 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, not Rorschach blots).
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, naive.
Diagnosis:
Psych Major Syndrome
I am a psychology graduate, so of course this book piqued my interest. It was a fun, fast read and really cute. The spots Leigh finds her in are places almost everybody has been in, well, except for many her wacky new age parents. I found myself thinking “I’ve been there,” so the book was really realistic.
I enjoyed how the chapter headings were different psychology terms defined and the fact that they tied into each chapter somehow. I liked Leigh ok, but she was a bit like a lost puppy following Andrew around as he pulled her along and she was a bit of a slacker. Andrew really was a jerk and I’d like to punch him. Made me think of the way my first serious boyfriend was when we split up. I liked Ami, she seemed very cute and artistic, and she was a good friend to Leigh. Nathan was a good guy and I would really hve liked to have known what the deal was with the cats. There wasn’t a lot of character development though with Nathan, and I would have liked to have seen some kind of emotional build up for the relationship.
Like I said ,the story was cute and it dealt with very real issues, though nothing super serious like drug addiction, but still real issues. I liked the way everything resolved in the end, though it was predictable. If you like light, quick reads, then you’d like this book.
Fast, cute, predictable, realistic, neat chapter heading tie-ins with story.
On The Shelf 