Book Review: The History Major by Michael Phillip Cash

This is probably going to be the shortest book review I’ll ever write… I contemplated DNFing this book the entire time I was reading it, which is a little crazy considering there are only 130ish pages…

Author:  Michael Phillip Cash

Genre: Horror? Fantasy? Not sure exactly….

Version: eBook

Publisher: Chelshire, Inc. (January 4, 2016)

Source: NetGalley

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After a vicious fight with her boyfriend followed by a night of heavy partying, college freshman Amanda Greene wakes up in her dorm room to find things are not the same as they were yesterday. She can’t quite put her finger on it. She’s sharing her room with a peculiar stranger. Amanda discovers she’s registered for classes she would never choose with people that are oddly familiar. An ominous shadow is stalking her. Uncomfortable memories are bubbling dangerously close to her fracturing world, propelling her to an inevitable collision between fantasy and reality. Is this the mother of all hangovers or is something bigger happening?

This book starts off with our main character, Amanda, waking up after what seems to be a long night of drinking.  Things go from ordinary to odd very quickly.  One moment we are on a college campus where weird things are happening, like shadow creatures following Amanda, the next we are in a lecture hall with Aristotle as the professor.  Throughout an odd history lecture, Amanda is transported to 1425 where Joan of Arc has a vision of the archangel Michael, then later to 1483 Rome and see Rodrigo Borgia… Oh, and then Amanda travels to 1939 Munich and dances with Hitler?  In between these odd historical visits, we also see a bit of Amanda’s traumatic past.  All of this was thrown at us without any type of transitions, nor any obvious connections.  The History Major felt very jarring & incoherent.

Amanda was not a particularly likeable character.  My biggest issue with her would be the fact that all kinds of crazy things are taking place around her, but she doesn’t really act like a reasonable person would in this situation… Most people would question things, but Amanda just goes along with it all, despite the fact she knows something weird is going on.  I never found myself rooting for Amanda, nor really caring about her outcome.

This book felt like an acid trip… and not a fun one.  I may have muttered the words “What the hell is going on here?” a few times while reading The History Major.  Could it be possible that I just didn’t “get it”?  Maybe.  I don’t think that is the case though.  After reading the author’s note at the end of the book, I can appreciate what the author was attempting here, but if I have no idea what the author is trying to convey until after I read the author’s note, then the author did not accomplish their goal.

*Big thanks to Chelshire, Inc. for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Born and raised on Long Island, Michael has always had a fascination with horror writing and found footage films. He wanted to incorporate both with his debut novel, Brood X. Earning a degree in English and an MBA, he has worked various jobs before settling into being a full-time author. He currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

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