Annie Ward has written a page turner that will appeal to readers who enjoy Gillian Flynn and Ruth Ware. Because you know from the outset that someone is killed, there is a suspicion of almost all the chief characters from the beginning. It was a thrilling read, but not one that ends particularly happily.

This book kept my attention but I didn't find it spectacular. I think I've read far too many mysteries that it is hard to surprise me, but I did appreciate the work and author's effort.

I wanted to like and tried to like it, I liked the story line and the war tie-in but the writing just seemed disjointed to me. I think I got lost in some of the flashbacks. I am not saying YOU will not like it but rather it was a DNF for me.

The exotic locations in this book is what grabbed me first. The book starts with Maddie, Ian and her friend Joanne all living in the Balkans in their twenties as part of school or service. And while the characters weren't overly concerned with danger in the parts of world they live in, they are young, and it was right before September 11, before many of us felt we had to worry as much--whether we were right or wrong.

One thing I craved more of in the beginning of the story was more history and insight into the conflicts in the regions the characters lived in, more physical descriptions of the places they traveled. Because this book definitely starts differently than many thrillers and I wanted more of that.

As the story unfolds, we are taken through the intense and deep friendship that Joanne and Maddie share. We also see Maddie and Ian's toxic relationship unfold...with what starts as a deep undeniable attraction that smolders and smolders, erupting several times before the inevitable end. And we all know that type of relationship does not provide the stability to last, to live with every day. But those relationships are also the most tempting and memorable ones.

This review will be posted to my blog, womenintroublebookblog.com on February 19, 2019.

I didn't dislike Maddie, but I certainly felt she was not capable of making good decisions. There is some insight later on the book that helps explain why she would be this way, and I really appreciated that. All in all though, the end of the book left me feeling extremely unsettled. And I know that can leave a memorable mark sometimes when a book ends that way. But I wanted more of a resolution.

Beautiful Bad is the sweeping international story of a bad romance. There were things about the book I didn't love, but I still really enjoyed the book as a whole. Those traits and baggage that when we are dating we pass off as fixable or just a phase, can have long-lasting impacts on our lives. Ward does a great job illustrating these toxic relationships.

A special thank you to Park Row and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Beautiful Bad unraveled very slowly. It was full of back story about several young people in Eastern Europe prior to 9/11. Maddie and Ian eventually marry, and Maddie gives birth to baby Charlie. Maddie learns Ian has been setting them up to live in a bunker to be safe from his PTSD nightmares. We know there is a murder, but tying in all together in an amazing knot makes this a decent read. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

What an amazing twist of a novel!! Could not put it down - felt like I was living this life...amazing ending that I am in awe of

I’m not a fan of comparing books to others like Gone Girl or The Woman in the Window - but this one lives up to the comparison! This tumultuous tale takes place in various war-torn countries, as well as Kansas, hooking me from beginning to end!

The opening scene was graphically intense and I had hoped the rest of the story would maintain that edgy pace. Unfortunately, with the story referring back to the past the story switched gears to a more somber period of time.
There’s a lot to process in this story and it doesn’t help with the way it’s delivered. I’m not sure how to sort through all this information.

This became a very political story in regards to Ian’s character. Ian’s character spent his youth in war-torn, terrorist-ridden, third-world countries. It’s no surprise that he is edgy, angry, and skittish around crowds of people. Ian was paranoid about his safety after spending years protecting other people living in countries where attacks occurred frequently. He was molded by his circumstances in life.

This could be referenced as a second chance romance despite not really having a beginning. The timing was never right. Distance separated them, yet their hearts remained the same.

The reader gets an in-depth view into the past lives of Ian, Joanna, and Maddie before the day of the killing. Yet, I didn’t like 60% of the story. I ask was it necessary to build an extensive backstory on these characters? Maybe, yet not this extensive. Not to mention I had no idea where the story was taking me. With the initial opening scene I thought I was headed into a different type of story. It wasn’t until the last 30% did I figure out the purpose of this story. I could forgive the other 60% given that the ending blew my mind. Did the author redeem herself? Absolutely. I’m glad I persevered even though I skimmed because the ending was worth the wait. If the entire book was written like the opening and final scenes then this could have been a 5 Star read.

Probably closer to 2.5 stars than 2 based on the plot alone, but this was probably the most unlikeable cast of characters I've ever encountered in one book. For supposed best friends, Jo and Maddie are complete and utter awful people to each other, and Ian was a complete mess of a stereotype. He was like a walking poster boy for what civilians expect soldiers coming back from Iraq to be like, with some kind of childhood trauma mixed in that never gets properly explained. There's some kind of accident that completely disfigures Maddie's face that the police say couldn't possibly have happened the way that she says it did, but that never gets properly explained either. The entire book is really a hodge podge mish mash of back and forthy timey wimey (sorry, I had to) timelines that just make the book nearly impossible to keep up with, so not only are the characters awful, but the story line leaves you reeling as well. And then, the cherry on the cake, spoiler b-tee-dubs, there's NO RESOLUTION. We couldn't even get that. Sorry, this one is a hard nope for me.

This was a fascinating book; Ward opens with a murder and then unravels it slowly until the final page reveals the "truth." Maddie and Ian appear to be a happy couple with son, Charlie but of course there is appearance and then there is reality. We flashback to see how Ian and Maddie met in a war-torn country and follow their relationship along with Maddie's best friend, Jo. We all know that relationships are hard work--both in love and in friendships, and these often test the boundaries of sanity and reason. Throw in a little PTSD and paranoia and things get dicey. I enjoyed the past/present aspect of this novel and even though I didn't always like the characters, their stories seemed real and relevant. There's plenty of tension and it's poignant and well-written. The end may leave you gasping but to me, those are the best kind!

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward was definitely an interesting book, to say the least. It really pulled me in right from the beginning, opening with a harrowing murder scene. I really liked that you only received bits and pieces of how the murder unfolded (including who was murdered) at a time. The rest was left to your imagination until the end of the story.

The different time frames and locations of the story were really interesting. They provided a good sense of the characters and their back stories. I enjoyed the Eastern European scenes more than I thought I would. They were a bit hard to read but felt very real.

There was definitely a big twist (for me) at the end of the book and it left me not knowing who to “side” with. I was conflicted about who the true “bad guy” was with this story, and it really made me think. I like that the author left it open to interpretation that way. The one think that I wish was a bit different was that there wasn’t one character who I really loved. They were all just okay. I thought I was going to really like the cop, Diane, but there wasn’t enough of her in the book for me to really connect with her.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was such a good book!!!
I loved everyth About it, except Ian really pissed me off a few times and Maddie seemed anxious about literally everything. But the plot was good and the twists were even better.

This book bounced around all over. I struggled with it but continued up until Ian supposedly was describing to his three year old son how to kill a rabbit. Too much for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher, and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This book started off pretty slow and I didn’t really get into it until the 40% mark. I truly hated the two main female characters, they were very judgmental and spoiled in my opinion. I started to guess the big reveal around halfway through and I have to admit I was a little sad with the ending. I also feel like one characters behavior almost seem unbelievable. I know it was supposed to be a shock and she had supposedly been acting the whole time, but that’s just really hard for me to believe. I did notice one mistake in a flashback scene. It was a scene from 2001 and Peter mentions Skyping his family but Skype wasn’t introduced until 2003. They also texted a lot in this book when it was 2001 and I don’t remember texting being that popular back then. Maybe I’m just being too picky. Anyways, I really did enjoy this and I’d recommend it.

Maddie, Ian and Jo have an interesting story that will keep you guessing through most of the book. I was not sure what to expect when I started reading, but I would highly recommend to fans of Gillian Flynn. Beautiful Bad shows the dark side of a person and how it all can come crashing in on you. I am so glad that Netgalley and Harlequin granted me the oppurtunity to read this and share my thoughts on my reading experience.

I feel like BEAUTIFUL BAD has a bit of an identity crisis, like it's not sure what kind of book it wants to be. Is it a smart political thriller? Not quite. Is it domestic suspense? Not quite. So we have a little bit of a category problem, which is an issue if you're in the mood for a certain type of book. However, overall I enjoyed the story and appreciate the (many!) twists. I like how Ward tries to do something new here -- and mostly it works if you're willing to go along with the flow and let the story take you where it wants. I'll admit I skimmed some of the parts set in the past because the present perspectives were more compelling. Mostly I appreciated how everything - and I do mean everything - was explained and wrapped up nicely by the end, which was very clever.

Beautiful Bad goes for the shock value mimicking the twists other books have done better.
Maddie needs a therapist. She is having issues with anxiety as well as the fallout after a major physical trauma. She relates to her therapist about losing her best friend years ago and the issues with her husband and her profound fear for her son. It's time to do something, but what?
Beautiful Bad seems to focus on three perspectives: the one of a cop the day of a murder, Maddie as she gets therapy and Maddie telling her past. The first two perspectives are intriguing pushing me to want to know more. The past though is uninspired and takes me out of the pacing of the first two perspectives. These chapters are painfully boring; we get it, Ian is crazy, Maddie is a bad friend and lets Ian run her life. Too much time is spent in the past than what is actually going on in the plot.
By the time we get to the present and the twist, I am uninterested in the characters other than Jo. I didn't call the twist but I wasn't surprised at all; I've seen similar plots written better.
The book tries to play with the idea of head trauma and how it changes personalities, but the novel spends so little time on it, that it's really just an excuse instead of thoughtful insight.
Here's what I liked about the book: I loved the therapist sections. I love the writing therapy, Annie Ward put a lot into that making it fit both scenarios that are playing out. These sections were beautifully done and this is what kept me compelled into what would happen. Ward has a lot of potentials and looks forward to seeing how her work grows.
sometimes riveting, sometimes boring Beautiful Badis an uneven novel of suspense.

Ian was beautiful and strong when Maddie met him in Macedonia and she was smitten immediately. He was broken years later when he came for her in America and she knew it, but she wanted him and thought she could fix him. A few years into the marriage Maddie gave birth to their son, Charlie. A fierce protectiveness grew within her where Charlie was concerned and she would do anything to protect him...anything.

3-4 stars. I enjoyed and didn't enjoy this book, I think I should have noticed the isis part in the description and maybe not grabbed this one, because political type themes really turn me off in my reading and this had a lot of them. It was well written and made me wonder what was going on and why, but I just didn't love it like my normal thrillers.
Will use it in an upcoming challenge in Chapter Chatter Pub and let members know about its upcoming release. I do think some would truly enjoy it.