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What would you do for your Best friend?
Cassandra Grace will live through heartbreaks over a thousand lifetimes.

Ellie (Eleanor James) wants to be a superstar. She has natural beauty and talent, but is super impatient in achieving her goals. She drops out of High school to pursue acting. She achieves greater success, but it comes at a cost. Ellie dwells deeper into darkness as fame becomes a dangerous drug to her.

Cassie (Cassandra Grace) is sweet and loving. She is terribly indecisive about what she wants to do in life but will follow Ellie anywhere, including dropping out of High school. After a few years, Cassie decides to go back to University and there, she discovers her love for English literature. As her life gains purpose, she doesn't realize how much her friend Ellie is drifting into despair. Can she save her?

Cassie vows to be there for Ellie and to get her the life she deserves to have, even if it means challenging Fate... and losing everything she loves to save her.

'My Dear Ellie' is Aisha Urooj's debut novel and is the first in the Love & Friendship trilogy series.

192 pages, Paperback

Published January 6, 2020

119 people are currently reading
555 people want to read

About the author

Aisha Urooj

20 books76 followers
Young adult fiction & fantasy author
Author's store: https://payhip.com/AishaUroojBooks
For blog and author news:
https://aishauroojbooks.wordpress.com

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5 stars
24 (18%)
4 stars
21 (16%)
3 stars
44 (34%)
2 stars
29 (22%)
1 star
10 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Hannah E. Griggs.
Author 8 books47 followers
Read
January 21, 2024
This was a dnf for me. The writing style wasn't my style with a mixture of past and present tense, so after reading the first chapter, I went in search of other reviews to see if the story made up for it. Which then led me to skimming the last chapter, a practice I seldom do. Well, there I discovered a paragraph that was most disturbing. The main character said if she had a choice between going to Heaven or Hell, she would go wherever her best friend went. That and another bit about bargaining with fate showed me this was not a book I wanted to read.
11 reviews
April 13, 2020
What I Liked:
The nostalgic tone (The author makes use of descriptive language to invoke a sense of nostalgia about lasting childhood friendships)
The length of the book (It’s a surprisingly short read, really good for passing the time or for a quick readalong with loved ones)

What I Hated:
The lack of depth (The book seems completely unfocused on exploring real-world issues surrounding female friendships and adulthood, offers no allegorical commentary, the plot is alarmingly plain)
The pacing (Since the plot itself is very thin, there is meaningful development in terms of character or storyline or background, everything is explored strictly at the surface level)
The character Ellie (She stands out as the most poorly written character and comes across as 2-dimensional with seemingly no flaws and minimal relatability)
The portrayal of female friendships (It can be seen that the narrator is more focused on idolising her friend rather than considering her as just a good friend, signs of an unhealthy relationship)
Reliance on cliches (The lack of research on issues such as ‘job struggles’ and ‘life in showbiz’ is unfortunately all too clear)

The Verdict:
While the book has a delightfully nostalgic air about it, it fails to deliver on the promise of portraying relatable female characters as lifelong friends. The book’s shocking lack of depth ends up being too much of a disappointment.
Profile Image for Phyllis Kerr.
Author 2 books35 followers
March 30, 2020
My Dear Ellie is the story of the relationship between two females ranging from childhood to early adulthood. The story, an adventure of comradery, childish antics, teenage angst and unfathomable happiness and sorrow reads like a series of essays with an emotional distance that flattens the impact the story begs to express. Still, the rich possibilities of this touching story leads the reader to the sad, expected ending.
Profile Image for Melynda Wangsness.
196 reviews
February 26, 2023
"He said that we don’t always understand what makes us happy, but we know what makes us sad."

A quick read with an important message (that got lost in translation).

Distracted by the spelling and grammar errors, I had a hard time enjoying the overarching theme of this read. Parts of the story drug along while other parts felt so quick that they were incomplete and I felt as though I was missing part of the story.

While I wanted so much to like this book, I found myself skipping the free sneak peak of the next book at the end. There just wasn't enough to keep me hooked. I feel this short book would have done better incorporating more of Ellie's side of things to include important context. Instead of two (or three) books. I would have loved to see an intertwining of these stories together in a longer book.

That being said, this would be a great YA read for those wanting something quick and light regarding friendship and life.
Profile Image for Michele.
502 reviews18 followers
May 1, 2020
“Ever had a friend that made you smile on the darkest of days?”

My Dear Ellie is a thought-provoking YA novel of a timeless journey that asks what would you be willing to do for a very best friend. “Would you be willing to live through heartbreaks over a thousand lifetimes?” This novel is suitable for all ages; we all ask ourselves these questions in regards to friends and loved ones. Friendships are complicated, now more than ever.

This novel is a tribute to Eleanor James and Cassandra Grace. Ellie and Cassie, best friends extraordinaire, love and friendship, the ties that bind, even when unbound by circumstance.

“Some moments and some people leave such a mark on your life, that life begins to be defined by the moment before and the moment after their arrival.”

Aisha Urooj’s debut novel is a beautiful testament to friendship and love, in the best of times and in the darkest.
24 reviews4 followers
April 14, 2020
A book about two best friends who are brave enough to take risks at such an early age. Who believe in themselves to leave their homes and their high school education to endure the outside world. The book started with happy, best friends always together vibe but all turns dark when secret of Ellie is revealed and its too late to undo what has happened. This book constantly reminded me of my best friends and the bond i have with them. It also gave me a sense of not taking someone for granted.
I congratulate Aisha Urooj on successfully writing her first novel and wish her best of luck for the future writting adventures.
Profile Image for Dawn  🫶.
446 reviews19 followers
October 11, 2022
3.25

My Dear Ellie is a cute coming of age story for two female friends. This book is filled with cute normal teenage drama with a mix of unsuspecting feelings. If you are looking for a sad ending that is very expected this is the book for you. I really want to say that I like this book but honestly I feel like there was so much the was left unsaid and the ending was very typical so it makes it hard for me to rate it any higher. I don't know... Maybe I need to reread it but I just didn't get into it as much as I expected to
Profile Image for Andrea Cox.
Author 4 books1,744 followers
May 5, 2025
I only made it a few chapters. The style of time-jumping through memories was a big miss for me. Gobs of grammatical errors, including excessive sentence fragments, were difficult to slog through. The lead felt too immature and lost, as well as idolizing her best friend to the point of being nauseating, which made her seem like a whiny twelve-year-old instead of the grown woman she was supposed to be.

It really was too bad this was a miss. The cover was adorable. And I could always use more U authors for spell-out challenges.
Profile Image for Beena Khan.
Author 39 books1,011 followers
April 30, 2020
3.5 stars.

A lovely book about friendship.
Profile Image for Emma Katherine.
271 reviews15 followers
March 29, 2020
Read my full review here: https://lifesanovelty.blogspot.com/20...



Opinions: The perfect word to describe my feelings about My Dear Ellie is shocked. This book was meant to focus on the journey of life and how normal people overcome its struggles, but the conflict these characters face is drastic and unrealistic. Are we meant to feel bad for Cassie and Ellie when they purposely drop out of high school then struggle with finance? Are we meant to sympathise with them when they burn all of their money on three takeout restaurants in one night? Although these events did not correspond with the tried themes of the book, they were quite entertaining! A twenty-year-old high school dropout winning a Grammy and being nominated for an Oscar is not something we can relate to, but it is certainly a change from your classic YA breakup! Suffice to say, I will not be rereading My Dear Ellie, but it was definitely worth reading once.

My Favourite Thing: All I've done in this review is complain, but My Dear Ellie has an indescribable feature that captivates readers. Even through the odd relationships, lack of parental charge, and timeline-y feel to the story arc, I was enamored by the character's consistency and desires in life, the creative writing style, and especially the originality. I haven't read another YA coming of age story like My Dear Ellie! It's down-to-Earth, straightforward, and special to the readers.

My Least Favourite Thing: Adding on to what I said above, the projected themes of the book did not correspond with the plot. Urooj tried to write a story of overcoming struggles, but as I commented, the struggles were not realistic. Finally, towards the end of the book, an opportunity for Urooj to depict real-life tragedies arose but the book ended five pages later.
Profile Image for S.E. Crawford.
Author 4 books10 followers
July 2, 2020
"...I hear Buddy barking angrily at my deception and broken promises."

This is an idyllic story. Dark subject matter, while mentioned, is never fully explored and quickly sidelined. The characters grow safely and securely much like the characters in a PG teen movie. Happiness is the name of the game until a heavy plot twist hits the reader in the face. Blink-and-you-miss-it foreshadowing will be enjoyable to sleuth out.

I do have to mention that there are quite a few jarring typos/grammatical inconsistencies. They interrupted the narrative quite a bit. That’s where the 3-star rating applies. A skilled proofreader would do wonders for improvement here.

Overall this story suits the young-hearted readers of the world. You know who you are!

Friendship, loyalty and love are the intermixing themes. Enjoy~
Profile Image for Kyra.
50 reviews
November 8, 2023
I am typically super nice with reviews, but this book was terrible, especially the ending. I honestly still don't even know what happen in the ending since it was SO hard to follow and made no sense. Not to even mention all the spelling and Grammer errors.
Profile Image for The Glass House Online Magazine.
120 reviews11 followers
December 4, 2020
We all remember our firsts, don’t we? Our first love, our first heartbreak, our first school, even our first home… but few firsts rival our first heartbreak in our memories quite like finding our first best friend.

Many of us make those first best friends at primary school but for some it can take a little longer to find that soul mate that can help you through the trials and tribulations of growing up; but you would be hard pressed to find someone reading this book that couldn’t relate to the emotions of truly loving (in the purest sense) a friend so deeply that you would want them in your lives forever.

If you could go back now, to the day you first met that first best friend, could you remember all the details? Would you change a single thing you had gone through together? What would you give up, or put on the line, for that friend that you promised to spend the rest of your life with?

My Dear Ellie by Aisha Urooj is a book that explores the depths of friendship and how mere moments can shape your life.

My Dear Ellie isn’t a book that I would normally rave about, it’s the kind of book that I would quietly consider. It’s quite a slow burn and at times feels more like a collection of diary entries of a young girls trying to make sense of the world. There are moments when I questioned if this was a work of fiction, or if indeed the author herself had tried to reimagine a friendship that meant so much to her as a child.
It feels real, as if you are reading the inner most thoughts of a child growing into herself as we follow Cassandra and her analysis of a friendship that is shaping her life in more ways than one.

If you are a fan of The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, this book might tweak your interest. Although the story itself is a slow burn (and seems to end exactly where I hoped it would begin) it is a book that makes you look into your own world and think about the friendships that shaped you and why.

My Dear Ellie is the first part of a trilogy, at first I had no idea how the author would pull out this story into three parts, but the ending of book one makes it clear why this is not even close to being the end of the story for Ellie and Cassie.

The characters are drawn with heart, emotion and empathy. The sentences are wrapped in delicate cloaks of nostalgia and at only 166 pages, it is a quick read that leaves you waiting eagerly for more. A fabulous YA coming of age story that I look forward to reading more of.

Reviewed by Emma-Claire Wilson as a guest post review for A Little Book Problem.

3 Stars
Profile Image for Carissa Leighton.
16 reviews3 followers
June 28, 2023
Book review for My Friend Ellie: Love and Friendship: Volume 1 by Aisha Urooj

I recently read the first volume of My Friend Ellie by Aisha Urooj and it is a lovely book aimed at younger adults/teenagers with a really important message in it. It says it will take roughly 3 or 4 hours to read, however I did manage to read it in an hour and a half, so I would say it is generally a quick read type of book.
However, as much as I really wanted to enjoy the book, there were a few grammatical issues, which I think may be partly down to an issue in translation to English from the author's native language. Also time pretext is a little muddled up in some places, with it being in both past and present times in one sentence.
Further to this, the ending is a little strange and I did have to go back a few pages at times to check I hadn’t missed anything out, however I couldn’t find anything and I believe that it could have been explained a little bit more in depth beforehand to stop the confusion.
Overall though, I love the message that is trying to be portrayed across to young adults as I feel it is an important one, I just wish that it could have been translated across to English a little better.

Profile Image for S. Jeyran  Main.
1,642 reviews130 followers
August 14, 2020
My dear Ellie is a fictional story about love and friends. It begins with Ellie wanting to be a superstar. Her dream and ambitions are so intense that she does not want to take a long time to achieve it. As the going says, “be careful what you wish for,” Ellie’s fame is something she needs to be cautious of as it becomes a sorrowful experience.

Cassie, on the other hand, is her best friend and has a charming and loving character. She is somehow the opposite of how Ellie is. She isn’t sure about her future and where she stands in her life. As her life changes and becomes more purposeful, so does her decisions and the relationship she has with Ellie.

The story is more of a coming of age tale, and the bond between the two girls builds the foundation of this young adult story.

I wasn’t a big fan of the cover. The story was so beautiful, and I felt that the cover did not represent the content. I later found out that she had changed the cover design and was impressed by the update.

The literature and narrative were good. The content is a testament to what friendship is all about, and I recommend it to young adult fans of fiction.
Profile Image for D.W. Plato.
Author 5 books173 followers
July 6, 2021
I always get so excited when I find an indie author who's gone the extra mile and created an audiobook. This one has a lot of potential but alas, it's another example of how a good editor could make an average story better. I liked/enjoyed the storyline itself, the idea behind it, however; the dialogue wasn't realistic and I found I was having a hard time liking the characters plus there were places the tense wasn't consistent which took away from the overall story.
Aisha, good job for writing this book and getting in on Audible, your imagination is spot on but for me, it seems you still need help polishing up your work. Keep writing, you'll just continue to get better. #dowhatyoulove
154 reviews
December 28, 2025
I feel awful for such a low review but this was like reading just a write though journal for a story line, this could of been a really good book if it had depth and more feeling but the interactions between the characters were like robotic, I can only compare it to unseasoned. Chicken just bland and its really sad because it had huge potentional if it had been expanded on and had a better interaction flow, and the last like what 3 chapters confused the hell out of me I thought I was reading a different book, I really felt like dnf'ing but this was my last book to complete my reading goal for this year and I wanted something short to make sure I hit it
Profile Image for Selena 📚.
181 reviews9 followers
July 25, 2024
This is a book about friendship and how to cherish every moment you have together.

We learn about Cassie and Ellie who have been friends since childhood and that’s where their story begins. From there we see Cassie and Ellie go from acquaintances to best friends. I enjoyed reading about Cassie and Ellie and their loving friendship. Everyone needs a friend like Ellie in their life!

I didn’t really find that the writing style was for me and I don’t think I’ll read any other books by this author, but this wasn’t bad.
Profile Image for Pamela A..
733 reviews12 followers
June 21, 2024
incredibly moving short.

What and an amazing story these two best friends had, this story resonated with me as I lost my adult son last year to an accidental drug overdose. This story also reminds us you are never promised tomorrow and if if we do get tomorrow to make better choices. I miss having a best friend so I enjoy reading friendship fiction a lot. Thank you Aisha Urooj for a really touching and thoughtful story. 😍
2 reviews
September 9, 2024
It started out as a cute book, but i basically just was skimming through the last several pages. PLEASE get an editor. The grammar issues are nonstop, it almost felt like the first draft was written and published without a second glance. Once or twice in a book is fine, if not funny, but it was constant and could’ve been such a good book if not for the lack of editing.
Profile Image for Paddie.
38 reviews1 follower
December 13, 2020
I, I don’t know what to say about this book. It is amazing. Not going to give any spoilers away. But there was points that I was laughing and some serious points I was crying really hard! The last sentence in the book hit me hard! Absolutely a wonderful read!
104 reviews1 follower
October 3, 2024
Passionate story

Passionate story of deep devotion to a best friend. But there is an unforseen twist! Didn't see it coming. We'll developed characters will have you reaching for the phone to call your best friend.
196 reviews1 follower
December 10, 2025
Such a beautifully written story of two best friends staying best friends no matter what happened in their individual lives. So many feels throughout.
I highly recommend the audiobook because the narrator puts all the feels into her reading of the story.
Profile Image for Jennifer Lara.
1,147 reviews4 followers
July 3, 2023
I was bored. There is a lot of telling and not showing. And I didn't feel a lot was happening. It may be for a much younger audience and the chapters were super short.
Profile Image for Carla.
16 reviews
July 22, 2024
DNF at 22%

I tried repeatedly to pick it back up and I just could not. It might not be a book for me but it might be a book for someone else.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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