Crush

by Jane Futcher

Jinx learns a great deal about herself at fashionable Huntingdon Hill Boarding School, where she is "adopted" by rich, beautiful, self-possessed Lexie, who gains Jinx's willing adoration

Genres: LGBT, Fiction, Lesbian, Young Adult, Queer, Boarding School, Historical Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Grace Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoaaa, a YA set in the 60’s, released in the 80’s, resplendent with curse words galore and lots of steamy lesbian lust 😳🔥

With my love and appreciation for vintage 80’s/90’s YA, I’m shocked that I only just knew of this book and even more shocked this was released in the Reagan years!!

This book takes place at an all-girls prep school, but of course! Our protag Jinx develops a massive crush on the popular, beautiful, manipulative bitch Lexie who always gets what she wants, leaving a trail of destruction behind her. The character of Lexie is fully freaking realized and as much as I, the reader, abhors her for her detestable actions, I also admire the fact that she is a self-actualized, force-of-nature MONSTER. We go on this coming-of-age journey with Jinx and her burgeoning sexuality, and it is something to behold.

I don't remember anything like this growing up, and no doubt it was groundbreaking (and controversial) upon its release! I hope that through the years it has helped many young girls as they navigated their lives, helping them to understand their sexuality.

Shoutout to the original owner of my copy of this book who highlighted and emphasized all the bad words and naughty bits. Tee hee!! 🤭

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lesbianism! It's just like sisterhood!

Okay. Look. If this book hadn't been published well before my birth, I would say that it was written with me in mind: boarding school! Possible lesbians! 1960s historical fiction! It's a freaking trifecta book*, which are about as rare as unicorns.

But, well. The boarding school is, alas, decidedly backdrop, despite how much of the action happens on campus. Ditto anything that happened in the 1960s. And the lesbians... Lexie, Possible Lesbian #1, is bona fide crazy; even Jinx (Possible Lesbian #2) admits it. Jinx is madly in love with Lexie but isn't sure what that means for her sexuality (or anything else), which is perfectly reasonable except that she doesn't care that Lexie is crazy. Possible Lesbian #3, or Miggin...actually, let me put it in the words of Jinx (ellipses in original): And it didn't seem weird and strange, it didn't seem like a crush, it seemed like two friends who are so close, who love each other so much, they're...they're like sisters (216).

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THAT.

There's actually a lot I appreciate about the book, even setting aside the part where it's a mythical trifecta book. That Jinx doesn't figure everything out, for example, and that she doesn't suddenly realise that she had it all wrong, that Lexie is insane but Jinx is after all a lesbian and totally has a thing for Possible Lesbian #3, who has by then morphed into Definite Lesbian #3. Jinx is still a teenager at the end of the book, with big changes ahead of her.

I said that the setting (in terms of time period) was really relegated to the background here, but I suppose that's not strictly true: major historical events are strictly background, yes. And this is a pretty conservative, preppy boarding school, so there's nothing like counterculture going on. But the timing influences everything about the attitudes: the idea that queerness is this terrible thing; expectations of dress and attitude; pretty much everything ever about Jinx's parents. (I told my mother that I'm still looking for a wildly romanticised piece of 60s/70s YA fiction—'good luck with that', she said skeptically—and that this was not it, and yeah, there are large parts of this story that make me pretty happy to have grown up in a different generation.)

This review is a little confused, but so am I, so perhaps it evens out.

*Trifecta book = hits three of my big reading interests

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay, to be honest, it wasn't what i had expected. i think it was very much more of a personal understanding/ self-realisation than a love story at all--which i was completely fine with.
i actually didn't know it was written in the mid-90's, because it seemed so long ago. (not just the time period, but the writing style as well).
a lot of the plot highlighted internalised struggling and discrimination that queer people (esp women) have had to experience and still experience today. the plot also follows a relationship/frienship that quickly turns toxic for most of the novel as well.
it wasn't a bad read! it was similar to 'prep,' but less detailed and more focused on the protagonist. i just don't think it would be worth reading again, as i feel i didn't really gain or remember anything from it.

[Rena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lexie was crazy as hell, and Jinx was even crazier to entertain her. Overall, a decent read, but it took far too long to get to the climax.

I enjoyed the 1960s all-girls boarding school setting, and the incorporation of current events during this time. It was supposedly a simpler time, which I believe made the plot simplistic also. How can Jinx not realize she was being manipulated by a cunning, disturbed, hypersexualized rich girl, used to having everything and everyone she desired?

I guess being 18 and naive will make you overlook details like that.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean "Jinx" Tuckwell finds herself a player in the schemes of Lexi, a popular girl at the private school they attend in the mid 1960's. I liked the author's portrayal of Lexi (reminded me of the character Amandine in the book of the same name). I have known people similar to this character who cannot explain her own actions, lies and manipulates others for her own amusement. I only wish Jinx weren't so naive because it got a little silly and redundant toward the end.

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Ive been trying to read more 20th century lesbian fiction as I prefer it to the modern stuff. This is in the top 10 books of the genre I've read for sure.
The characters were really well written (though there were slightly too many to keep track of!) and the setting was brilliantly written. Futcher is a very talented writer.
However, the change in plot about 2/3 of the way through where Lexi turns the letters over made no sense and I didn't like the shift in direction. If that change in direction had been paired with some character development from Jinx (I was practically screaming 'oh my god grow a backbone!!') I might have liked it more.

Overall an enjoyable read and far better that some others I've read but for me it didn't come close to Annie on My Mind or Deliver us from Evie

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but there’s some stuff that the main character does that is weirdly violent? that i was just like ok i guess we’re gonna just pretend that didn’t happen? but other than that i liked it for the most part. i feel sometimes like the author would just tell us what happened rather than really make us feel it, but the main character was very relatable and i actually kind of love that it didn’t end up being a love story where she figures herself out and everything works out perfectly. it was sort of real and honest in a way that not many books are. worth a read but not particularly life changing.

[Kaitlyn H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to the same all-girls school the author did, I understand the complex dynamics of sapphicness being both smth all girls go through yet also taboo, like it's hard to explain but there's this weird balance between "all girls do gay shit with other girls" and "oh you're gay ew do you have a crush on me???" like idk but this book has got me reflecting on that even more than usual

[Aj G · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Crush by Jane Futcher, the setting of the book plays a big roll in the characters' decisions and actions. The time frame of the story, the main characters were studying in Huntington Hill [an all girls (catholic) school] in Pennsylvania mid1960's. It was the time of war (Vietnam War), John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and Lyndon B. Johnson was elected president, the people were fighting for equality, and civil rights, and homosexuality was deeply frowned upon If the story were to take place in present time, would the main characters, Jinx and Lexie, have made the same decisions? If they were to live in todays times where civil rights were passed and homosexuality was more accepted, would they have made different actions?
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Jinx, the protagonist, started off as a timid but talented artist who was a generally 'good' student that played hockey for the school. but it seems that a crush on Lexie would change her. It seems that love has such a powerful force on people, it makes a most people forget about reality. Lexie had the power to change Jinx, to use her for her advantage. for example, Lexie used Jinx to paint the set for the school play, in this decision, or therelackof, Jinx was sleepdeprived, failed classes, stopped painting (her own artworks) among other things. Lexie could also be implied doing this to Jinx to manipulate her, and also make herself look "un-queer". As read on the last chapters of the book, Lexie exploited her ''friendship'' with Jinx asking her to commit fraud and later leading them to expulsion from school.

[Kricket · Rating 2 out of 5]

another retro lesbian romance i found in teen fiction. i found it very similar to "hey, dollface!" because of the similar era, the moody main characters, the dread and doom of being queer, and the whole getting caught snuggling in bed together thing. and the unsatisfactory endings, in which the main characters decided they might just be fond of girls in a tender sisterly way. maybe in this era that was the only truly happy ending these authors could find for someone attracted to the same gender.

i just want a HAPPY teen lesbian book!

[Jen Keyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is super angsty teenager, but having been to an all womens college this book is very realistic. I found it in my place of business book store and took it home not knowing I was going to find a story that I couldn't put it down. i really like the whole Lexie not wanting to be queer fasinating though she has provoked poor Jinx. I wish that Jinx had figured out if she was a lesbian or not or if she had ended up with Miggin would have been nice too. I really loved this book and I think I will accidentally misplace it for the time being.

[Cathleen Ash]

While Futcher's story of a young girl finding her sexuality and friendship at school is on most GLBTQ lists, I found it extremely disappointing. Few teens in an urban setting are able to relate to the characters in the exclusive boarding school. While Jinx is a believable character with her questions and insecurities, the other main character, Lexie, is wholly unappealing and unbelieveable. This book was a letdown on all levels.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it in within a day and a half. I couldn't put it down.

Should it win book awards? No.
Will it become a literature classic? No.
Did it entertain me? Yes.

Crush is low on sexual encounters, but high on Teen Angst. I really enjoyed it.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I immensely enjoyed the author's descriptive style. It's a story about teenage love, and there's some truth for everyone. Although I'm not gay, I can see myself in Jinx at that vulnerable age. The author tells the story with humor, but it can also cut like a knife; I could not put it down.

[Guillermo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shall I say typical first time lesbian story. I gave it three stars for effort :)

[Linny Delacroix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it as a young teenager and loved it.

[Alexandra Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cute. (: Fast read.

[Amaxchan]

It was well written and the characters were interesting. A fairly good book

[Cindy Illsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unsatisfying.