A review by farahchaudry
Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam

3.0

This was a lovely little book, very nearly a 4-star read for me! It's not often you find South Asian rep in YA fiction, and I could definitely relate to some elements of Ellie's experience. This has a cute premise following Ellie's (highly dramatic!) trials and tribulations at school, with family, friends and potential love interests, interspersed with musical interludes.

My main critique was quite how much was packed in, including themes of dishonesty, low self esteem, grief, sexual assault, alcohol abuse, LGBTQ+ characters, post-child loss pregnancy, teacher crushes (!)...you name it, this had it.

But overall a very enjoyable read and I would thoroughly recommend the audiobook.