Becoming Carly Klein

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Becoming Carly Klein
Publisher
Age Range
14+
Release Date
September 17, 2024
ISBN
978-1684632664
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Fans of contemporary coming-of-age young adult fiction will root for Carly Klein as she fights to find her place in the world—even if she has to lie to everyone in her life to get there.

Neglected by self-absorbed parents who wind up divorcing by the time she’s sixteen, Carly Klein is sustained by her best friend, Lauren. But when Lauren and her family move away, Carly is forced to find new ways to entertain herself. It doesn’t take her long to locate the perfect subject: her therapist mother’s patients.

Carly soon becomes obsessed with one patient in particular—Daniel, a blind junior at Columbia College—and, desperate to become part of his life and knowing he’ll never go for a high school girl, gets close to him by pretending to be a student at neighboring Barnard College. Becoming Carly Klein follows Carly on a roller coaster romp through the exhilaration and disappointment of first love—and the unintended consequences of disguise, deception, and discovery.

Editor review

1 review
Obsessive Romance & Teen Angst
Overall rating
 
4.0
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Becoming Carly Klein, the debut novel by Elizabeth Harlan is a coming-of-age story filled with teenage angst and heartbreak. Carly Klein is a 16-year-old girl living with her therapist mother and advertising executive father in New York City. On paper, she sounds like she has a perfect life, but in reality, Carly's life is crumbling all around her. Carly's mother is focused on work and barely pays attention to her daughter. Carly's dad is always working, and she discovers he is having an affair with his executive assistant which eventually leads to her parents separating. As if things weren't bad enough, Carly's best friend is moving across the country, leaving her feeling even more alone.


Amid all this, Carly begins to have a crush on one of her mother's patients, Daniel, a blind college student. She befriends him, pretending to be a college student named Serena. They quickly develop a romantic relationship, and Carly's lies of deception continue to grow as she lives a double life. When Daniel breaks her heart, Carly hits rock bottom, but it's through this pain that she can repair her relationship with her parents.

Harlan does an outstanding job of writing Carly as a complex character with a great deal of personal growth by the end of the story. In some situations, I can empathize with Carly, such as when her parents forget her birthday, and in others, I question her decisions, such as when she knowingly deceives Daniel. I think Carly's infatuation with Daniel and her lack of boundaries in stalking her mother's patient was hard to understand. Throughout the book, I found myself engaged and wishing I could have some of my questions answered like how Daniel/and his seeing-eye dog did not recognize Carly's scent or feel that she was wearing a wig. There were other unanswered questions at the end that I would love to know the answer to like did Daniel ever discover that Carly was his therapist's daughter.

Becoming Carly Klein is an impressive debut novel that will be enjoyed by teen readers who love a good coming-of-age story.
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