I started listening to this audiobook to distract myself after the devastating LA wildfires ravaged my city. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was immediately intrigued and delighted by the narrator of the audiobook. Although this is the first Alice Feeney book I've read (but def not the last), I was well aware before reading that the author is the queen of plot twists. I do love a plot twist, and I have to admit, I did not see this one coming. It was quite far-fetched, but even so, I found myself eager to finish the audiobook and figure out how this ends. I've even since read the reviews on Goodreads, and I have seen how divisive this book seems to be amongst the authors loyal fans. Overall, I really enjoyed this ride of an audiobook - the pace was a bit of a slow burn, but the author's prose was perfect. And ultimately, the central theme of the book really rang true: life is both beautiful and ugly, and people must learn to live with both sides.

This was a solid 3.5 star for me. It was definitely suspenseful and I didn’t see the end coming. It took me in a million different directions along the way and had me second guessing everything. However, without giving away any spoilers, I thought parts of the twists weren’t fully explained or hashed through which left me scratching my head at times but overall a solid thriller.

Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly opens with a bang: Abby Green’s car is found abandoned on the edge of a cliff, but where’s Abby?

Her husband Grady is left reeling, consumed by grief and unanswered questions. Desperate to escape his unraveling life, he retreats to a remote Scottish island. As secrets begin to surface, Grady realizes the island is hiding answers he might not be ready for.

Interesting points: complicated marriage dynamics, remote Scottish island setting, dual POV, unreliable narrator

The audiobook narration was top-notch, and those sound effects? Chef’s kiss—completely immersive.

If you’re a fan of twisty mysteries and don’t mind an ending that’s a little out there, this one’s for you.

I was so excited to read this book - it has a beautiful cover, an interesting blurb, and Alice Feeney is an author I could get behind. I went into this book expecting to love it, but unfortunately, I left feeling confused and disappointed.
The premise was great - an author, Grady Green, receives some good news and wants to share it with his wife. He calls her to tell her he is a NY Times best-seller and suddenly hears her step on the brakes. She says there's a woman lying in the road. She gets out to check on this woman, and when she does, something happens that causes her to go missing. Grady is distraught and grieving, and after a year of no trace of his wife, he decides it is time to finally start moving on with life. He travels to this remote island off the coast of Scotland in hopes that he can start turning things around and possibly start writing again. However, once he gets to the island, things start getting weird. The whole island is an eerie, isolated, awkward, uncomfortable mess, with a population of only 25 people.
The idea was good, but the execution was not. A lot of the book is spent on island description instead of building up the plot. The reveal was very farfetched and outlandish, as was the explanation that went along with it. This book would have been a 3 star for me, but then came the reveal that tore it all apart. I was honestly hoping for more from his book. 2 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and Alice Feeney for this ARC.

**I hope you die in your sleep** weird way to say I love you but… my dark side can get behind it.

Grady has just become a New York Times bestseller and is on the phone with his wife Abby, who is on her way home to him, telling her his news when Abby stops to help a person laying in the middle of the road. Grady asks her not to get out of the car and instead to come home but Abby is a decent person and gets out to assist and is never heard from again.

What follows is a twisted story similar to Gone Girl with a sprinkle of the wicker man and obviously some new concepts.

Was this story original? Not really but that did not take the enjoyment out of it for me. I was able to predict the twist very early on but with its short chapters and dreadful atmosphere this book really does make you want to keep reading it.

Also, can we appreciate what Alice Feeney did at the end of her novel. After reading that Grady published his stolen novel, Beautiful Ugly, and putting a hidden message in the first 14 chapters of his book, you as the reader are able to go back to the first 14 chapters of your book and read his message. That was such a fun touch that I really enjoyed.

I have not read an Alice Feeney book I have not enjoyed yet and if you love a quick Woman Scorned book then definitely give this book a read!

I really enjoyed this twists and turns in this book! I wasn't sure where Mrs. Feeney was going with this book but I loved the end!

I enjoyed this book. I'm still getting used to audio books but it was good. I liked the character build and the twists. Didn't see the ending coming.

I thought Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney was an interesting read, though it was a bit slower than I expected. The atmosphere was moody, and the suspense definitely kept me intrigued, but I found the pacing to be a little sluggish at times. The twists were good, but they took a while to build up. Overall, I liked it okay—it had some great moments, but the slow burn made it hard to stay fully hooked at times. If you enjoy atmospheric thrillers and don’t mind a slower pace, you might really enjoy it!

This book was really suspenseful! I was confused as to what was happening, in a good way. I don't usually come across unreliable narrators, not sure if I love that or not. But, very well written, very dark.

Alice Feeney once again delivers a captivating and twisty thriller with 'Beautiful Ugly.' This psychological suspense masterfully weaves a narrative that constantly shifts between reality and illusion, leaving the listener constantly guessing.

The audiobook experience is elevated by the exceptional performances of narrators Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. Their nuanced voices bring the characters to life, while the minimal sound effects enhance the atmosphere without being intrusive. I particularly appreciated the chapter titles, many of which are oxymorons, mirroring the book's title, 'Beautiful Ugly,' and subtly hinting at the themes of duality and contradiction within the story.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #BeautifulUgly #Macmillanaudio

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney was such an amazing book!
An atmospheric and creepy read that was is a non-stop page turner with an ending that delivers.
Feeney is the master of psychological thrillers.
Richard and Tuppence did an outstanding job narrating this one.

3.5/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Audiobook

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this audiobook.

This was another novel with an author as the lead character… and an overdone storyline, but maybe I’m just cranky!
It’s a slow burn where things progress at a mediocre pace which left me feeling bored at times.
Overall I found this read to be “meh” it did have some fun twists towards the end that added to the overall enjoyment, but other parts were predictable.
I really wanted to enjoy this book as I’ve enjoy other titles by Alice Feeney but I just wasn’t feeling it.

This book was one of those thrillers that is a little unbelievable. The beginning is set in a ridiculous way where you start to get annoyed at how far fetched everything is. But! The end really wraps it all up in a way that delighted me. I was surprised with how satisfied I was with the last bit. Performances were great.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney is an interesting thriller told from two perspectives: (1) Husband Grady is a writer who lost his wife over a year ago and he is still grieving her loss; so much so that he can’t write anymore. (2) Wife Amy disappeared under mysterious circumstances and get a glimpse into why and how in flashbacks over her life - both before she met Grady and afterwards as their relationship turned into a mundane existence. The rest of the story is about Grady using an old writer’s cabin on a remote Scottish island with only two dozen residents. Mysterious things start to happen while he is there and he tries to figure out why and how. I really enjoyed the beginning of the story and felt really sorry for the distraught Grady. And the “big reveal” and ending really caught me by surprise.

Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton provided the voices in the audio version of this story and they were perfect! They had my attention the entire time and really brought the characters to life. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy of this audiobook. I leave this review freely and in my own words.

It’s a solid mystery with lots of twists and turns. I loved all of the oxymorons in every chapter. And I was hooked after the first chapter. Missing woman? I’m in. Unfortunately, the main character was meh for me. I think that was the point, since there were some solid feminism vibes so I appreciated the male MC being less desirable in the end, but it was frustrating to see the cycle of indecision and inaction again and again and keep chugging along. I pushed on and loved the mystery of the woman in the red coat finally resolved.

𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗨𝗚𝗟𝗬 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘆 is a dark, gripping psychological thriller that had me hooked from the start. Grady Green, an author drowning in grief after his wife Abby’s mysterious disappearance, travels to a remote Scottish island to find solace and inspiration. But instead of peace, he’s met with eerie islanders, unsettling events, and the impossible sight of a woman who looks just like Abby. The island's haunting atmosphere—complete with towering redwoods, misty cliffs, and ominous forests—added to the tension and unease that dripped from every page. This story’s twists are as shocking as they are clever, delivering a jaw-dropping reveal I never saw coming. Feeney’s vivid storytelling never ceases to amaze me. If you enjoy psychological thrillers with eerie small-town vibes, this is a must-read.

Read Completed 11/17/24 | 4.25 stars
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for this audiobook review copy!

Alice Feeney is always an auto-read author and I think BEAUTIFUL UGLY is one of her better novels! I loved the moody setting of a remote Scottish island and there's plenty of suspicion to go around. This book was readable from start to finish and immediately hooked me at a time where not a lot was grabbing my attention.

The book is about author Grady Green, who takes a temporary leave/writing retreat to a remote Scottish island in a cabin lent to him by his agent in the hopes that he can get out of his writing slump. It's been a year since his wife disappeared while he was on the phone with her, and he has to assume at this point that she's presumed dead but starts seeing reminders of her when heading to Amberly Island. More and more odd things start happening on the island as its history makes itself known and Grady starts to find out that there's much more than meets the eye...

I love a locked room mystery and despite having an entire island to roam, this is exactly what this book was. A tiny island with no tourists or visitors allowed, no phone or internet service, and even no cars makes things terribly exciting and suspenseful. With only 25 residents, when anything odd happens, you know it's someone on the island and just wonder what their motives are. Alice Feeney did a great job at bringing this island and all of its residents to life. At times, I forgot I was reading and could really picture everything that was going on, and I could definitely see this as a Netflix limited series like so many Harlan Coben novels.

The pacing really picked up towards the end, and that's probably my only decent hesitation about loving this book. The beginning had its mysteries as we get to see (or don't see) Abby's disappearance on the page. The book skips to one year later as Grady's agent is arranging for him to head to the cabin on Amberly Island and things were still interesting, but do take a little while to set up. There are some suspenseful flashes here and there, and there are chapters where we see a past version of Abby before she disappeared, so there is still a lot going on to set up this thriller. I just wasn't as invested as I could have been to really amp up this rating, but it's all still solid!

The ending was definitely more fast-paced, with things being revealed left and right! Most of the things I kind of saw coming by the time we got there, but there were a few missing pieces to tie everything together that really brought it full circle. Some of it was a little fast and furious and I wish that we had maybe spent more time on them earlier on so it wasn't such an onslaught of information all at once, but it definitely captured everything and tied up all of the loose ends -- including some things I had forgotten about! Some of it was maybe a little bit of a stretch, but hey, that's why it's an entertaining thriller novel. We don't always want to read about everything being a given because that's not exciting.

Like some of my favorite thrillers, just when you think it's over, it's not! There was plenty of excitement to go around at the end, and it adds one more touch of darkness before it's lights out for this book.

I'm so happy to have enjoyed this book and I think this is one of Alice Feeney's better novels for me! Definitely a solid thriller read.

This book had a lot of potential. It did move at a slow pace, but in the end, it was plot twist after plot twist, and I think that might have been what made it not that great. The slow burn was okay, but there were too many little details that weren't really needed. Once towards the end, though, with all the plot twists, it just made the story so unbelievable.

3.5 stars

TLDR; eerie and mysterious thriller that feels very Gone Girl x Shutter Island.

I quite enjoyed Beautiful Ugly. I was lucky enough to get an ALC so I actually listened to this one and I think the audio really lent itself to the story. As someone who often guesses big reveals having listened vs read really helped to keep me into the story without getting ahead of the story. The atmosphere and narration constantly gave me the chill down my spine vibe.

That being said, even without trying to guess the twist or big reveals, I feel like it was still a bit predictable. Grady Green is an unreliable narrator and you see that very early on with how he acts. Not that I think he's meant to be all that likable but man was he unlikable. There was a decent amount of the book that was felt like nothing was actually happening. Overall, Beautiful Ugly was a like, not a love, good not great. There wasn't anything that really stood out for me. Would definitely recommend the audiobook!

<b>Thank you NetGalley and MacMillian Audio for the ALC!</b>

Happy Pub Week to Alice Feeney and Beautiful Ugly. The title’s unusual, and so is the story - slow burn suspense with a strong sense of place. PSA: Columbo the dog is not harmed.

A struggling male author retreats to a remote Scottish island with no phone or internet service. Strange things seem to happen to him. Are they real ... or not?

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for advance access to the audiobook expertly narrated by Richard Armitage with Tuppence Middleton and atmospheric sound effects. I was surprised to get another point of view beginning at the 20 percent mark. As I listened, I was never quite sure whether or not Grady was a reliable narrator until the end. I didn’t anticipate the reveals in the final chapters, and I’m still not completely sure how I feel about them.

This is my third Feeney novel, but not my favorite. If you haven’t read this author, I recommend starting with His & Hers or Daisy Darker.