“In Prime Choice (Book 1) Perry Skky, Jr. had rededicated his life to God. When Pressing Hard (Book 2) begins, he allows himself to be talked into drinking alcohol when it isn’t something he really wants to do, and it surely isn’t an act that’s pleasing to God. One minute Perry is claiming to be high on life and moments later he’s gulping down four beers in a row. In other words, he gives into peer pressure. He is repentant, though, especially when the alcohol he consumed takes a toll on his athletic physique. He’s also repentant a few more times throughout the story when he makes other decisions that he immediately regrets. Seems he’s learning that it isn’t easy to be a Christian in this world.
Perry sure has a whole lot to deal with in this book: His boy, Damarius, gets him caught up in a dangerous situation. A fatal accident takes away a friend, and there’s still much drama in his life when it comes to females.
I purchased Book 2 because I wanted to find out if Perry and Savoy would stay strong in their Christian beliefs and remain abstinent. But Mr. Skky gets a bit confused and can’t make up his mind about who he wants – Savoy or Tori (the girl he broke up with in Book 1). It seems he has feelings for both of them, and he ends up hurting both of them. He does, however, take responsibility for the pain he causes.
And about Perry’s Christian beliefs as far as premarital sex is concerned, I had to wonder why a guy who is committed to abstinence would have a condom in his nightstand. I guess even though his spirit was willing to abstain he figured there would come a day when his flesh would be in control and he’d better be prepared. That isn’t total commitment. Total commitment would be never even thinking about buying a condom, never taking a girl up to his bedroom or her bedroom or wherever, and doing his best to never put himself in a situation where sex could happen. I’m thinking the author was trying to show the reader that Christians don’t get it right all of the time, and that when the wrong choices are made, God is right there ready to forgive.
Perry says, “Being an eighteen year old black male is a lot of pressure.” In order to cope with all of the pressure, Perry prays to the Heavenly Father. But he doesn’t just pray for himself, he prays for family and friends. And it seems that, by the end of this story, more than pleasing himself and his parents, Perry Skky Jr. wants to please God.
I plan to purchase the next book not only to see how that works out for him, but to find out if he ends up with Savoy, or Tori, a new girl, or if he just decides not to have a relationship with any girl so he can focus on football, his education, and, most importantly, his relationship with God.
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