Hellooooo to my favorite Feeney novel to date!
This book gave all of the mysterious, spooky, “what is even happening!?” vibes.
Although the novel slowed a bit for me in the middle, it picked up quickly for me toward the end with several shocking twists that had my little thriller loving heart alight.
Feeney is a master at story-telling, creating a visual scene that never misses, and the conclusion of this book was a total win to me.
I didn’t love her most recent novel, Good Bad Girl, so I went into this one with hesitant expectations and left finished the book feeling pleasantly surprised, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

I'm delighted to share my thoughts on this captivating read! Alice Feeney's latest work has left me in a state of bewildered enthusiasm. Following the disappearance of Grady's wife, the bestselling author struggles with writer's block. In an effort to rekindle his creativity, his agent sends him to a secluded island, where strange occurrences unfold. Will Grady uncover the truth about his wife's vanishing and break through his writing barrier? Beautiful Ugly is a masterfully crafted psychological thriller that kept me engaged and guessing, expertly weaving together suspense and twists.

Grady Green was on the phone with his wife Abby when she saw someone lying in the middle of the road. She stopped to check it out and it was the last time he ever talked to her. A year later, he is on his way to a cottage on an island off the coast of Scotland and sees someone who looks just like Abby. Once he arrives on the island, weird things start happening to him and he starts to receive his wife’s old articles under her door. Is he hallucinating or are strange things happening on this island?

Holy shit Alice Feeney. What it must be like to live inside her brain where strange ideas like this originate. I'm a big fan of this book and I love how the story is all tied together. Not gonna lie, it’d be pretty cool if some place like the island actually existed. I always enjoy reading Alice’s books and the multi POV and trying to figure out what’s going on. The twists never stop coming and Alice kept me on edge and guessing until the very end. Well done!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook, it was an amazing story!

Include spoilers:

I am woman, hear me roar!

I really enjoyed seeing the marriage of Grady and Abby through their own perspectives and how incredibly different two people can view the same relationship. The concept of an island or safe haven run by women sounds pretty appealing sometimes, especially after some of the articles Abby wrote. Sadly, this stuff happens all the time. Alice Feeney did a great job building each character and giving everyone enough quirks and flaws to make them seem suspicious.

Thrillers are by far my pickiest and stingiest category for judging, yet I can’t quite pin point why? What it generally comes down to is three things:

Did I have fun?
Was I surprised in some way?
Did the story fit the vibe fit the plot?

Beautiful Ugly had all of the above and the stellar audiobook narration and production completely captured the atmosphere.

I have loved many of Alice Feeney’s books and I’ve hated a few. She is generally a formulaic writer, but this felt really fresh for her. It toed the line of cinematic versus atmospheric and to me that’s a winning combination offering up lots of twists and turns.

This is a story that I encourage you go in blind, less is always more when it comes to thrill seeking, but here’s what you can expect, unreliable narrators, a mysterious island, feminist undertones and one or two shocks. But it’s the ending that’s the real winner, guess you’ll have to read and find out for yourself.

Life is beautiful and ugly. So true.

Alice Feeney is back with another haunting psychological thriller. The plot was giving Gone Girl at times, but with a unique spin. I was hooked to the end; although, I’m not sure the resolution was completely plausible. I really enjoyed the setting. I think the isolated island in Scotland set the mood.

Thank you Alice Feeney, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this audiobook! The sound quality was great, and the narrators did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. I like how there are sound effects sprinkled in here and there, like a ringing phone and radio static.

Oh my Gosh this was good.

Alice Feeney has been one of my favorite authors for a while now. I first fell in love with her when I listened to "Sometimes I Lie", and ever since then I cannot wait to finish whatever she writes. Out of everything she has written, I think that will always be my favorite, but "Beautiful Ugly" is my second favorite without a doubt. And it is a VERY close second.

I think because the books are quite similar in style; two points of view, story/plot is very seemingly simple, and there is a WTF moment at the last 5% of the book. And I haven't read "Sometimes I Lie" in I think 5/6 years. A book like that stays with you, I think that's why people love it or hate it.

This book is more of a slow-burn. But I believe it moves along at a nice pace and isn't too slow. The character development is relatively well done and throughout the book you can begin to understand them a little bit more and more. And the dynamic between the characters is one that had me continually thinking to myself, "hhmmm, well who is telling the truth then?". And I like it when I don't know who I can trust, especially when it is in first person

I am going to end this review by saying I think that this book is probably tied as my favorite, because it is just that good. And the audiobook just kicks it up to next freakin level.

I went in with zero expectations, besides knowing I wanted to read Alice Feeney’s newest book asap. I was so excited to get approved for the audiobook ARC and realized I wasn’t even sure what the story was about! I wasn’t expected a creepy island vibe and totally ate it up!

Grady is an author at the top of his game when his wife mysteriously goes missing while he’s talking with her on the phone. Everything continues to crumble until Grady is given the opportunity to spend the next few months on an island to focus on writing his next novel. The island only has a couple dozen residents and they seem…off. (While listening, it reminded me of the movie Hot Fuzz: perfect community that prides itself on no crime while all the residents seem unique, and use walkie talkies!) I loved the creepy feel while listening and couldn’t wait to find out how everything would come together.

Audiobook: this isn’t your usual straightforward audiobook. There is more production involved including ocean sounds, walkie talkie/speaker phone call sounds (different from regular speaking voice). The walkie talkie noises reminded me of those children’s books where every time you see a specific picture you pressed the corresponding sound 😆 So every time walkie talkie was mentioned, a walkie talkie sound was “pushed”. I liked it.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio
Media for this audio ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble.

Pub Date Jan 14 2025

A year after his wife disappears, author Grady Green heads to an isolated Scottish island to work on his next book. But the island isn't what it seems to be.

Alice Feeney is a queen of twisty thrillers. Here's what I loved:

The eeriness: This book is so atmospheric. I loved the isolated feel of the island. On top of that, everything is so off with everyone that you really don't know how to feel the entire time. I was hooked right away just because of this.

The narration: I loved Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. Armtiage in particular does such an amazing job with Grady. There were times that I felt his panic as he searches the island for answers. There is also the added sound effects and music that help to add to the already eerie book.

The twists: This had a few really good ones and one that I really didn't see coming. But, it all does fall into place as you go along. The ending in particular really got to me.

All in all, this is a really good and twisty thriller that will keep you on your toes.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📑MMC Author
☎️Missing Wife
📑Dual POV
☎️Mysterious Island
📑Twists
☎️Secrets

This was a wild book. The narrators were phenomenal.

I was constantly questioning what was going on throughout the whole book.

Everyone on the island was suspicious to me. I trusted nobody.

When you actually figure out what’s going on in the book, it’s crazy. I did not expect what really happened to the wife that was not on my radar.

The author had a good way of misleading the reader, and to assuming certain situations which I appreciate.

The ending was perfect! One of my worst fears comes to life. Wow! I would highly recommend this book.

This was the first book I read by this author. I will definitely be checking out more books.

Alice Feeney has become a favorite author of mine the last few months, and this book of hers is no exception! I loved the twists and turns this book took, and I definitely didn't trust the characters on the island. Grady calls his wife Abby to tell her the news that he has become a best-selling author. Unfortunately, as she is driving, she comes across someone in the road while she is celebrating the news with her husband. She goes missing after that night. One year later, Grady is given an opportunity to go to a remote cabin on an island to write in peace, however the island and its inhabitants are quite strange, and something is not right. This book absolutely was dark, and I devoured it. If you love thriller, you will love this book!

I was curious enough to finish this and was mostly waiting for the payoff of getting all of my questions answered and the twists that Feeney is known for.

I did get the answers and twists but unfortunately the payoff just wasn’t satisfying or even as surprising as I expected. Sadly, this one wasn’t a win for me.

The narration/audio production was great though.

Ratings
Story Concept 4/5
Quality of Writing 3/5
Pacing 3/5
Plot Development 2/5
Character Development 2/5
Audio Narration 5/5
Overall Enjoyability 2/5

Alice Feeney is an automatic read for me and this book reminds me why. I was immediately drawn in and could not stop reading so I could figure out what the heck was going on! In no way did I no where this book was going and in this case, that was definitely a good thing.

Grady Green receives the news that he is a bestselling author on the same day that his wife disappears without a trace. A year later, he is unable to write his next book and is running out of money when his publisher and missing wife's godmother offers him a cabin on a remote island free of charge where he can hopefully rekindle his spark for writing.

On his way to the small Scottish island, he thinks he sees his missing, presumed dead wife. Obviously his mind is playing tricks on him. As he settles into the cabin and adjusts to the island, he continues to have sightings and strange things start happening. He finds many odd objects at the cabin, has a feeling of being watched, and keeps finding articles written by his wife. What does it all mean. Through it all, he stumbles onto the answer to his writing block and feels that is the key to getting him off the island. Miraculously he writes a book and sends it to his publisher, thinking he will be on the next ferry out of there--but thats not what happens.

The story is told in the present by Grady and in the past by his wife, Abby and there are interspersing memories from Grady as well as articles written by Abby. It is hard to see how it all fits together and if Grady is going crazy or what, but it does all come together in the end.

I gave the book 4 stars because I could have used a little more explanation with the conclusion but it was a fun, fast read. I listened to the audiobook and it was quite the production with sound effects that didn't necessarily add to the story for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I’ll be the first to admit that after Rock Paper Scissors it’s going to be hard for Alice Feeney to top herself in my opinion. However, while her recent books haven’t been better they’ve still been enjoyable….until now.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Great concept and with the action starting on page one, I was intrigued. The first little bit reminded me of her writing style in RPS and I was excited. But then much like Abby, she slams the brakes and I got soooo bored for soooo long. The dual povs were annoying and the past timeline slowed the pacing down way too much for my liking. I hattttteeeddddd the sex scenes. Again it slowed the story down and felt rushed and added like Feeney had to meet a quota before the book ended. I strongly disliked the main character and while I thought it was cool to have a male Mc for all of 2.5 seconds that quickly ended when he got egotistical and whiny. The twists weren’t very twisty and nothing was overly shocking or much of a wow factor.

I don’t know what other people read but this was far from the five stars that I’ve been seeing. I will say that if you do plan to pick this up, I recommend the audio version as there were cool little additions to the background. Overall, I’ll still continue to pick up her new books but boy was this disappointing

Thanks to @netgalley and @Macmillanaudio

Who doesn’t love a good thriller with twists and turns? Well this book certainly provides that! I read the audiobook and the inclusion of multiple narrators and some cool sounds between chapters was great! Now the actual story is a fantastic thriller that has you on your toes thinking you know how it will end. Overall really enjoyable thriller!

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Master of twists Alice Feeney is back with a chilling new thriller, Beautiful Ugly. When investigative journalist Abby vanishes, her husband Grady is left shattered and desperate on a remote Scottish island.

As Grady digs into Abby's disappearance, secrets about their marriage surface. Feeney's trademark suspense builds with every page, keeping you guessing about what really happened to Abby.

Beautiful Ugly is a gripping exploration of marriage, grief, and how well do we truly know those closest to us? If you love a good psychological thriller with depth, this is the perfect next read.

Alice can really do no wrong in my eyes. Every single one of her books has been a 4 or 5 star read for me, and this one is no exception! I absolutely loved the setting and the plot of this one... and the twists! Alice never ceases to amaze me with her plot twists / endings. Beautiful Ugly gave me the vibes of The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson (one of my all time favorite books) and Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson. So so good and an easy 4 stars from me! Loved it!

Specific to the narration, Tuppance Middleton's was wonderful. Another name added to the list of narrators I specifically seek out audiobooks by!
Richard Armitage, unfortunately, was a little difficult for me to understand at the speed I prefer to listen to audiobooks (2x). I'm fairly sure the accent was the main problem, which is completely a "me" thing.

For the story, oh man. One of the more predictable of Alice Feeney's for me, I'm afraid. I often lost interest until Tuppance was narrating again because the MMC felt so "basic", for lack of a better word. I lost track of how many times I rolled my eyes at his one-liners.

Beautiful Ugly is one of those novels whose movie I'd be down to watch, but whose book I wouldn't recommend.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Alice Feeney, Macmillan Audio and Flatiron Books for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

The twists were a little too far fetched for my taste but I really loved the Scottish setting and that the MC was a writer. I also thought the audio book was excellent quality even if the story itself wasn't for me. The narrators (yes, there are multiple- yay!) really nail it and I appreciated the Scottish accents when applicable. Also, the audio includes special sound effects and tunes which elevates the listening experience. It was great and I would definitely recommend listening if you choose to read this one.

so i want to start by saying that the audio production and both narrators were phenomenal, i honestly dont know if i would have continued with the book had it not been for this. the random sound affects made everything more daunting and spooky which i loved, the voices for both narrators were super smooth and had me holding onto every word even if the book itself wasn’t necessarily speaking to me.

this is my first book of feeneys and i find myself a bit underwhelmed as nothing really happens for the vast majority of this book, you catch on that the people on this island are very obviously psychologically torturing Grady and its fun for a bit but then it just started to get quite boring.

there was one specific twist that i was like oh shit about but the rest were kind of eh for me as it felt very ridiculous and super far fetched.

an extra star solely for the fact nothing happens to columbo

Beautiful Ugly

I do so enjoy the twisty world Feeney creates. Always with a level of extra drama, atmospheric perfection, and deeply complicated characters, her books never fail to put my mind spinning. I enjoyed the isolated Scottish island setting and the heightened level of tension between all the characters. The end was interesting, but I’m still trying to piece together why she choose to end it that way. I’m guessing mostly for the dramatic effect because it felt incongruous to how she’d laid out the story.

Very entertaining and an excellent audio experience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the alc via Netgalley!

Eating: 4/5⭐️
Pub day: Jan 14, 2025