loved this continuation Graphic Novel duology showing where Tegan and Sarah are in life and how they come together to create their band. I liked how the illustrator used blue and red to distinguish between the two voices.

The 2nd volume fictionalizing Tegan and Sara’s jr high years focused more on them making a name for themselves in the music realm and figuring out who they are. Friendship stories continue from the first one but this one really emphasizes them starting to make it big. Part of me wishes it was more memoir and less fiction based on their lives.

Thanks to Net Galley for the digital ARC!

This queer coming of age graphic novel is incredible. Beautiful art with realistic dialogue and great pacing. The main conflicts come from believable sister drama, crushes, and critiques of the music industry. Would love to gift this to a young person figuring out whp they are.

Being a fan of the iconic pop duo is not necessary for enjoying it, either. To be honest I didn't know much about Tegan and Sara before reading this-- I hadn't even read the comic that proceeds it. But the more I learn the more I appreciate and respect their messages and values. I am definitely going to go back and read the first one.

Review also posted on goodreads.

4.5/5

I really enjoyed this. I am not the biggest Tegan and Sarah fan but I think you don’t have to be to enjoy this story.

It showcases Tegan and Sarah’s as musicians and young start. It is a story of growth, learning and family.

Absolutely adorable! We've been fans of Tegan and Sara for years and it was such a fun experience to see how their career took off at such a young age. Crush perfectly encapsulates what it's like to be young, passionate, and scared all at once! The illustrations were so well done and engaging. It's the perfect story for all the feels! Would love to see a screen adaptation in the future (fingers crossed!).

A nice sequel, though not quite as enjoyable as the first volume. I like the way the book explored balancing friendships, family, fame, and a beginning music career.

An excellent follow-up to Junior High. As Tegan and Sara pursue music and start working with a manager, the two conflict more and more over different work styles. As the pressure pushes them apart, they navigate new and old friendships and young love. Tegan and Sara must push aside their conflicts and figure out a way to move forward as budding musicians and sisters.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. As fans of Tegan and Sara’s music for well over 10 years, I have loved watching their journey into writing books and tv shows. It’s fun and interesting to see what may be based on their own experiences and what is more fictional. I absolutely love the art in this series, especially the use of various art styles and colors to represent different conversations. So creative and thematic. I wish I had these kinds of books as a middle grade reader, as I’m sure both Tegan and Sara would say, too! 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up, only for the little angst present which you can’t really blame for being about 8th graders 😉

A sequel that happens to be just as good as, if not better than, the first. It made more than eager to see more

Crush, was equally as good as the first one. I was so excited to jump back into Tegan and Sara’s story. It kept me hooked and the artwork was wonderful and unique. This would make a good addition to any middle school library.
Thanks for the arc

What a great follow-up to "Junior High"! I adore Tillie Walden's work, and I'm so glad that she is continuing her journey with Tegan and Sara to illustrate their books. I thought that this book tackled a lot of difficult subject matter well, from friendship drama to relationship drama to sibling drama (lots of drama!). The book took a deep-dive into the world of being in a band and trying to juggle a career with your own personal life and school, and I thought that the Quinns depicted that struggle well. I enjoyed the dual narratives of Tegan and Sara, and how they managed to capture the fraught nature of sibling life, while also showing how much the two care for each other through it all.

as expected, this was a real winner for me. i love tegan & sara and i can't recommend their stuff enough (music and writing, both).

crush is a cute follow up to junior high, the first graphic novel in their middle school series that is loosely based on their life, upbringing, and the formation of their band and journey as a musical duo.

high school was largely autobiographical (the audiobook is great for that one and includes snippets of them performing as kids) and junior high and crush take a LOT of liberties. events align differently than they happened in reality in this series and different things have changed. this isn't 90's set and includes aspects of social media and cellphones, but the messages here are all pretty much the same: music is hard and music is work.

in junior high, i feel like a lot of the focus was on relationships between tegan and sara and friends and various romances which was cool. crush focused more on the relationship between tegan and sara themselves and how they navigated burgeoning fame. very quickly, they acquire a manager named ramona and are divided down the middle about how she works. tegan's focused on practice and writing, sara just wants to have a personal life. personally, this story was much more interesting to me than that of the first entry into this series.

as always, tillie walden's illustrations just do it for me. tillie walden is the one. i think for younger readers this is a pretty great intro into the world of tegan and sara as well as themes of sisterhood, friendship, learning that life is a balance of hard work AND fun, but also the importance of passion and standing up for yourself.

loved this one very much.

Thank you Net Galley for this e arc. Tegan and Sara : Crush #2 is and adorable sapphic graphic novel. We follow Tegan and Sara as they are exploring middle school and the music industry. The graphic novel is beautifully illustrated and the story is relatable to many people. I love the authentic dialogue of Tegan and Sara at this age. Also, the discussion of the music industry is chef kisses.

I enjoyed Tegan and Sara Quin's first graphic novel, Junior High, and this extension of their coming-of-age and coming out story is just as good. I loved how they adapted their real life experiences to mesh better with modern-day references.

Artist Tillie Walden is phenomenal and really brings an energy to each twin to help define each of them independently of one another.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I think it would made a great addition to anyone's graphic novel collection.

This was just a enjoyable as the first installation in the series. It's adapted from Tegan and Sara's real life experiences of growing up and discovering music, but inserted into contemporary times. I would absolutely hand these books to younger teens and tweens reckoning with sexual identity, friendships, early relationships, and general life drama. All of these themes are tracked with tact and humor and supportive family.

This graphic novel PERFECTLY captures the excruciating angst of 8th grade. Starting with complaining about the summer, a time most adults would love to have off again, these girls bring the readers right into that age. As an adult reader, I hated that feeling, but I also know that this will resonate with middle schoolers. While being in a band, try-outs, and gaining a manager may not match the experience of all readers, the angst, crushes, self-doubt, and other strong emotions will bring in readers.

Add this title to your elementary library, give it to a middle schooler, or send yourself right back into the horror show that is middle school and read it for yourself!

Thank you to Macmillian Children's Publishing Group and Net Galley for the eARC!

Another fun time with Tegan and Sara! They are in 8th grade now after a different summer, and things are changing with their friends and also with their music. While there is some friendship drama and blooming relationships, the main focus of the plot is on the girls entering a competition then finding a manager, but the manager pushes them to focus on their music in a way that creates a rift between them. Will the band survive the pressure? Tilllie Walden's artwork was just perfect, fitting the cutesy, messy, colorful middle school vibes. I especially loved the scenes where Tegan and Sara have conversations with one another with their dialogue in different colors. I also loved the photos from Tegan and Sara's actual middle school days at the end! This was a good follow-up to the previous volume, and it has me interested in their high school memoir and the Freevee show now!

A good follow up to the first book in the series. I don't think it can stand alone, so would definitely recommend reading the first book before diving into the second in this graphic novel collection. I want to call it a memoir, but it's not quite that, although it is definitely based heavily on fact. I initially picked up the first book because I was intrigued by the story of Tegan and Sara whose music I like. The secondary characters who are new get a bit more page time than some of the characters who were introduced in book 1, and that works, because we didn't need as much of their back story - see note about not being a stand alone.

The mom and dad kind of irritated me a bit because they seem to be very hands off, letting the girls figure out some very big things on their own. I get why, but I truly felt like they should have been more involved or taken on more as parents of these two bright stars sooner than they did. And the manager stepped back way too quickly once mom got more involved. I also think that the social media obsession could have been dealt with if mom or dad had taken a bit more interest in what the girls were doing. Again, they were involved, but just not in a way that felt like they cared.

The friendships and the girls figuring out their sexuality and gender identities was well done. Also how they were sorting through all of the aspects of their careers. Interested to see where the series goes. If you haven't read the first book, suggest going back and doing that before taking up Crush.

Crush by Tegan and Sara is a charming graphic novel that picks up where Junior High left off, but could stand alone for new readers. As Tegan and Sara Quin begin eighth grade, their music career takes off, bringing new challenges and excitement.

The book beautifully illustrates their early teen experiences, focusing on crushes and their passion for music. Tillie Walden's artwork vividly brings the story to life, capturing both the fun and serious aspects of growing up. It's a quick, fulfilling read perfect for fans and young readers exploring their identities.

Many thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) and Netgalley for a copy of this graphic novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.