Review: Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

Hyperion Book CH/2009/Young Adult/336 pages

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).

I really enjoyed the fact that  PSYCH MAJOR SYNDROME is a Young Adult book where the main character is in college; there needs to be more YA books feature college aged characters. I read the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, which I found really enjoyable, last year (or was it 2009?) and the main character starts off in high school and in the other books she is in college, but technically I found out that they're considered "adult" and not YA. I definitely think that its a nice change from the usual YA book that takes place in a high school setting. 

I picked up this book because the main character, Leigh Nolan, is a psychology major and that is something that I'm thinking about majoring in college myself. I loved how at the start of each chapter there is a little definition of psychology terms. The start of the book starts off with:

Psych Major Syndrome: A common affliction wherein a psychology major, overwhelmed by conditions, effects, and disorders, begins to overanalyze her own life

Alicia Thompson creates characters that are believable. Leigh goes to a small, liberal arts college. Her boyfriend also goes there. I didn't like him but I did really like Leigh and the other guy. I'm not going to use his name because I feel it would give it away, but once you're reading the book you'll know who it is right away.


This book did have it's downs. At parts it was a bit too slow for me but overall, this book was pretty good. I loved all the psychology references, like the Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank that Leigh had to fill in for one of her Psych classes. I liked that her parents studied tarot cards and all of that – that they named her Tuesday. I especially enjoyed when Leigh got assigned to go to a middle school and be a mentor for girls. Those scenes were great! 


I hope Alicia Thompson comes out with a new book. I'd love to read something else by her.

3.3 out of 5 Stars.

RATING

Writing: 4/5

Originality: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Voice: 4/5

Ending: 3/5

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Favorite character(s): Leigh. 
Cover: D. I like the colors but the girl facial expression makes it looks like she has dazed off and whatnot...

Put-down-ability: 5. This was a pretty fast read! 

*Source: public library. 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Hyperion/March 25, 2008/Young Adult/342 pages

Summary

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:

Debate Club.Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”

A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school. 

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind. 

This is the story of how she got that way.

Review

Feminism, secret societies, and boarding schools are all things that I truly love and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau - Banks delivers all of this and so much more. I ADORED this book. It is going on my all time favorites list!

Frances "Frankie" Landau-Banks is a wicked good character. Often times, unfortunately, I find myself reading books where the main character (who's a girl) is dependent upon a guy, stays with some douche bag of a guy, and/or who is obsessed with looking the best, etc. Well, I don't know about you but I am damn tired of it. Imagine my surprised when Frankie turns out to be a girl that I would love to be friends with. She definitely reminded me of myself somewhat or at least someone who I would love to be like. There were times when I thought, 'whoa! that's what I would say!' and I've read some reviews of this book where some people hated it because it had a feminist mindset and well, maybe it's because I'm a feminist myself, but I loved that Frankie is this kind of person! 

The characters! Oh goodness. I really enjoyed them. *

• Zada - Frankie's older sister who graduated from HS the previous year and although she is only appears a few times in the book, I definitely enjoyed reading about her. 

• Matthew - His inner copy editor self is just awesome. 

• Alessandro "Alpha" Tessorieri - I don't know what to say about this Alpha. I really enjoyed this character. I like how we first meet him and yeah..

• Porter - Jeez. I really can't figure out who this character reminds me of and it's driving me insane! 

* I realize those was horrible descriptions. 

I really liked the guys in this book. Their loyalty and personalities impressed me and yet they....I don't even know how to explain it. Just read the book. 

Other little things I liked about TDHOFLB: The chapters were short. The way Frankie would make up words, kind of. 

On to the secret society part. In order to not give anything away, I will do my best to keep this vague... Oh, how I love secrets and societies. Secret societies are awesome. I really enjoyed reading about all the secret meetings and everything and what Frankie does. 

Had it not been 5 AM and had I not been so sleep deprived, I think I might've reread it. Something that I don't think I EVER done. In fact it's been a couple of weeks since I read it and I still keep looking at it and picking it up and rereading parts over because I loved it so much!

I'll admit there were one or two things that I didn't like about it.  The ending was okay–good. I guess it's more of a personal thing for me.. 

 /SPOILER/*****My heart ached for the guys after Frankie tells what she did and the book and all the society's history and pranks is discovered by the headmaster.  Because I am in somewhat of a secret group thing (I'm not going to say society but it has been around since the 1960s) with my school's theatre club and if our secret or whatever it is that we do got out or something I would seriously cry. And yeah, I know a lot of people who think its stupid but to me it's has been one of the best experiences with high school. But yeah, that's pretty much that only thing that I didn't like. The book being exposed like that.******/END/  

Also, the book is in 3rd person omniscient which, I have not read in an extremely long time and I definitely need to start reading more of. 

Overall: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is an enthralling and addictive  read that is so hard to put down. Everyone needs to read this book at least twice! 


(This long space is annoying the hell out of me. I can't fix it. UGH!)

RATING

Writing: 5/5

Originality: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Voice: 5/5

Ending: 3.5/5

Overall: 5 stars!! 

Favorite character(s): Frankie, naturally. And you know, I'll have to say Alpha, too. 

Cover: A! Love the colors, the fonts, and I love the fact that it goes with the story. The dog is awesome. I hate the paperback version!!

Put-down-ability: 1 - Very hard to put down! I read the first 30 pages in the car or somewhere but when I finally sat down and read it, I could not put it down at all! I was up until nearly 5 AM finishing this book! 

*Source:  public library. Must buy my own copy ASAP! And even though, I prefer paperback over hardcover, I need the cover on the HC!