In a world where saying “I’m stressed out” is automatic and almost normal, Pressure Points is a book that guides students to break out of that cycle and overcome the pressure points in their lives.

Being a stressed-out college student myself, I am, without a doubt, the target audience for this book. I’ve encountered many of the issues that the author uses as examples and his advice for putting Jesus in the middle of those situations is something I’ve always tried to do. But more than just saying what we should do, Abbott goes a step further and tells you how to walk a Christian life in the midst of the chaos of college.

Pressure Points is extremely conversational, not preachy. Abbott is honest about his own college life experiences, his struggles and triumphs, so it doesn’t feel like he considers himself “holier than thou”. It’s just an honest, down to earth book that shows his passion for college students finding their calling as Christians and overcoming the college temptations.

A couple chapters that I really liked, were the chapters on respecting parents as an adult college student, and the relationship/friendships advice. Don’t get me wrong, the entire book is great, but these chapters really stood out as exceptional to me. The one on respecting parents as a college student is something that just really needed to be said. Abbott discusses the tension between wanting to be entirely on your own, as a young adult, but also still depending on your parents for college tuition and other monetary support. He details the need for your respect, as a college student, to your parents in this stage of life to keep those parent/kid fights from ripping the family apart. That chapter was just really well done and I truly wish I had been able to read it while I still lived at home. The friendships and relationships chapters were equally as well done and I recommend the book for those chapters alone!

Overall, I was really pleased upon finishing Pressure Points and I really recommend reading it as a college student, or even a high school student considering going to college. It’s a great book of preparation. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book from the author/publisher for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.

​If you are a high school student, college student, or someone who wants to know more about that generation this book is great. While the book is written specifically for the college age person there are still practical lessons anyone can benefit from. One specific example of this is the relationship section. Abbott discusses the importance of authentic friendships that are not based on the superficiality of texting or DM’s. There are also aspects that don’t necessarily apply to everyone such as the chapter on dating (not truly helpful to those who are already married).

Pressure points is the term used for anxiety, struggles, challenges, or tough areas of life. These are natural and felt by everyone and Abbott does a great job discussing them and putting the focus to how this should be lived out in light of the story of God.

Book Information
Title: Pressure Points: A Guide to Navigating Student Stress
Author: Shelby Abbott
Publisher: New Growth Press
Publication Date: April 22nd, 2019
ISBN: 9781948130349
Price: $15.99

Book Review

As a fresh graduate, entering what one call’s “the real world”, how are we supposed to live with all these new found freedoms from a Christian perspective? In Shelby Abbott’s Pressure Points: A Guide to Navigating Student Stress he addresses what life throws at you as you enter into the transition to adulthood. Throughout Abbott’s book, he touches on a wide variety of “pressure points” that can be a huge factor for stress and anxiety and supplements these points with biblical wisdom he has given and used himself through the years of being a college student and engaging with college students on a daily basis.

I love that Abbott’s book is focused on the culture we live in at hand. Rather than shaming the millennial generation, he builds them up as leaders of the next generation. In Pressure Points, Abbott talks about purity, technology and people pleasing, and purpose. He covers a huge variety of topics seamlessly. Pressure Points is a great tool not only for high school graduates, college students, but anyone who is known as the “millennial generation”.

Shelby Abbott has written a wonderful guide that is extremely quotable and easily applicable. While Pressure Points did take me a while to read in comparison to other novels I have been able to read, it was due to the heaviness of the text. When you pick up Pressure Points, expect to mediate of godly counsel and the Word of God. Pressure Points by Shelby Abbott is a 5 out of 5 stars. This guide is one of a kind, jam-packed full of godly wisdom for the millennial generation, and applicable to the culture we live in today.
Thank You

A big thank you to Net Galley for supplying this book as well as the Publishers New Growth Press for giving me the opportunity to review this wonderful book! I also want to thank you, Shelby Abbott, for speaking into the millennial generation and talking on a wide range of topics that are usually brushed under the rug. I will be sharing this guide to many.

Moving into the university and young adult stages of life bring additional difficulty, as it is not something we have experienced before. With the wisdom of years of working in college ministry, Shelby talks about issues that face this generation of young adults as they struggle with life in both ancient and modern problems. Moving through both expected issues such as sexual conduct and unexpected issues like friendships, Shelby provides all of the wealth of his experience. This book provides a great short list of questions at the end of each chapter which forces the reader to slow down and evaluate where they are with respect to these questions. All of the content covered is applicable to young adults and is written in a tone that reminds us of a friend. In an age where the move to university is leading more frequently to an abandonment of a relationship with God, this book anchors the solution of every problem that we face in this season to the Cross.
I was provided a digital copy of the book through NetGalley, but all thoughts included are my own.