This is my first Alice Feeney book but it will definitely not be my last. I was at the edge of my seat throughout the whole story. If you are looking for a good mystery, thriller….then look no further. Unreliable narrator, what in the world is happening, am I going crazy too? All things you experience through out this book and I ate it up!

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this domestic thriller! The audio for this book was fantastic. Both narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life. This book felt like walking through a mirror maze. There are some breadcrumbs to pick up on some of the twists, and others just smack you in the face. It's a creepy tale with heavy topics located on a small island.

This was incredible. I loved the full cast & the sound design of the audiobook. Alice Feeney is such a talented writer. This had me hooked from the very beginning. I loved this book.

I’ve been on an Alice Feeney kick ever since reading Daisy Darker last year. I love how she is able to keep the reader guessing until the very end.

I just finished Rock Paper Scissors a couple weeks ago. So here’s my issue with Beautiful Ugly. It’s so similar to RPS that for a second I thought I had started that audiobook again. Struggling writer husband, interchanging female/male POV, unhappy marriage, reclusive location, lovable dog. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing but maybe don’t read them one after the other.

I loved the additional sound effects on the book. Especially the waves and radio static. I feel like the twists weren’t as surprising as some of her other books but I still enjoyed it.

Richard Armitage has an amazing voice. My only complaint is sometimes it’s a bit too dramatic.


Thank you to NetGalley, Alice Feeney and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read Beautiful Ugly. I have written this review voluntarily and this is my real opinion.

My mouth was agape starting around 70% of the audiobook. Please do not expect a serious thriller going into this. When this book starts ramping up, it's a one way ticket to cuckoo town. There were plenty of plot holes or convenient non-explaining / accepting of implausible situations to move the plot along, but I didn't mind; there were so many loose threads to pull, I just rolled along with it, relishing in the ridiculousness. Here are all the predictions i had while reading:

1. The husband killed the wife, but out of guilt, blocked the memory/is living with amnesia
2. The husband and wife are BOTH dead, and the island is purgatory
3. The wife is alive and is framing her husband (the seems the most obvious choice, but is it?)
4. Lesbian cult

There were some genuinely creepy scenes (the couple who ran the butcher shop?!), and the atmosphere is A+! The audiobook has great production, ie. sound effects (wind, car horns, ocean waves crashing etc.) that enhanced the Gothic setting. Considering there's only two narrators, there were a lot of distinct voices for all the different characters.

The weakest part of the book was the oscillation between "before" and "after" the Big Accident. The momentum of the mystery was curbed because it was interspersed with relationship drama/reflections, so after a dramatic, spooky reveal, it would go back to melodramatic marriage drama. Also too much exposition by the villains at the end that dragged out the ending, again killing the momentum.

Overall though, a fun, atmospheric time. I'd recommend listening to this on audiobook.

I'm not sure why I keep reading Alice Feeney's books, when they keep letting me down. I'm always sucked in at the beginning but end up feeling annoyed by a ludicrous twist, and this one might have been the worst. The author did a good job at creating an unsettling atmosphere on this strange little island, though the characters never really compelled me, but the big reveal and the whole explanation of the island's whole deal was just so stupid and unbelievable. I have got to stop picking up this author's books!

Here's one thriller that is impossible to put down! Alice Feeney has done it again.
The plot revolves around an author who's just about to make it big in the publishing world when his beloved wife disappears. The story skyrockets from there. It's quite a complicated plot but I was at the edge of my seat all throughout the story.
The narration was terrific with sound effects that strongly contributed to the trepidation of the book, A great read!

"Life is a fairytale that rarely hands out happy endings. Life is beautiful ugly, my wife taught me that"
Wow!
This book will have you gripping the edge of your seat until the end!
Grady is waiting for a phone call, but he wants his wife to be with him when he receives this phone call but unfortunately, she was running late. When he finally does receive the phone call from his Agent he is elated and having trouble believing he is a New York Times best-seller author! After the phone call, he calls his wife once again, she's almost home but stops on the side of the road because a woman is on the road. However, that was the last time he heard from her so the best day of his life quickly turned to the worst. Even after a year, they are still not any closer to finding out what happened to her. Grady can no longer write and struggles with everything even his housing situation.
Then Kitty his agent offers him a cottage in Scotland for three months to try and write a novel, and he agrees because he has no other choices.
Once he arrives at the cottage and the island he thinks it's beautiful. He then finds a manuscript and decides to read he loves it and had originally thought about turning that book into Kitty to publish but he doesn't and then strange things start to happen. He is convinced he is seeing his wife who disappeared a year ago and then he thinks someone is in the house moving things around and such. There is just something that is off and Grady can't quite put his finger on it! The twists and turns of this story keep you guessing until the very end! I listened to the audiobook and even while the MC is an unrelatable character the audiobook was amazing and I was on the edge of my seat I loved it! The narrator was amazing and his tone fit the story! Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the extraordinary opportunity to listen and review this one! It was an adventure!

This book was tough to stop listening to! The entire time I had no idea where the plot was going or what was happening (in the best way). All the twists and turns - so good. This audiobook is well-produced, and I loved the song effects of the ocean waves and background noises. It was done well. I highly recommend this to any thriller/suspense/mystery lover, especially those who enjoy reading about domestic drama, relationships, complicated pasts, and ominous settings - in Scotland!

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Marriage is made of a million beautiful and ugly moments, stitched together into a shared tapestry of memories. All of which are viewed and remembered slightly differently, like two people staring at the same painting at from opposite ends of a room.”

“Life is beautiful and life is ugly. And have to learn to live with both sides of that same coin. And see the light in the darkness.”

Grady Green has become a New York Times bestseller. But, he is all alone. He is immediately relieved when he talks to his wife Abby on the phone. She is on her way home. He can’t wait, so he tells her his news. During their phone call, he hears Abby slam on her brakes. Next thing, she jumps out of the car, ostensibly to help a fellow driver.

The story continues one year later. Grady will never forget the worst best day of his life. Still grieving Abby’s disappearance, Grady has been experiencing a writers’ block. Thanks to his agent, Grady is headed to a remote island in Scotland to write his next book. He is assured that everything he will be surrounded by will awaken his writing muse. However, eerily Grady keeps thinking that he sees Abby here and there. Is he losing his mind?

The story begins to shift between Grady and Abby’s POV, and this was before her disappearance. Apparently, Abby was unhappy. Each chapter title is revealing, increasing the intrigue as the pacing and the twists and turns gave me chills more than once.

I love it when a audiobook has more than one narrator giving voice to the characters. When you are reading an intriguing and sinister story and you have excellent narration, you can really be pulled into the addictive atmosphere of the book. That was exactly the case with Beautiful Ugly. This compelling read by Alice Feeney was truly an excellent read.

Many thanks to Flatiron Books/Macmillan Audio and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Yeah I hated this. The best part was the dog. As an audiobook, it had interesting sound design and I liked the voice actors, but the plot was painful. So dreadfully dull for the first 60% and then the twists/reveal were just so unbelievably unbelievable…

I thought the setting was interesting, and when combined with the characters it gave the creepy vibes AF was aiming for, but what a ~not great~ plot (if you love this book, I love that for you!).

TYSM to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc… sorry for the negative review 🫣

I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into based on the premise of this book, but this is definitely an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller...but with no horror vibes. Richard Armitage as a narrator gets my vote any day, and this one was no exception. He did an excellent job with different characters, genders and UK accents. I began to think it was going to be a fairly predictable domestic strife situation, but Feeney went completely against my expectations and wove an entirely different tale with an ethereal air. Leave your preconceived notions at the door and be prepared for an unusual story of what might happen when a marriage begins to grow tiresome.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this ARL. All opinions are mine.

I could not put this book down! So twisty that I could not see where it was headed until I was hit on the head with the end. This author is an auto buy for me now!

I will preface this by saying I am a huge fan of Alice Feeney and love that I don’t know where her books are going every time I read one. This one wasn’t my favorite though. I love that you don’t always know who is “speaking” and the unreliable narration is very effective. The story itself was more unbelievable than others. I appreciate the social stance it was taking but found it a bit heavy handed in its messaging. Everyone you meet in this book is unknown to the reader until the last quarter of the book, which is something Alice does very well. This one fell flat for me.

I listened to the audio of this one and the narration was fantastic, with some music and sound effects, it made it more immersive. BUT…..in saying that - this book wasn’t for me.

This started out so strong. I was enthralled and curious to find out what is happening in this book.

The author has a way of making me question everything and feel like I’m losing my mind when I read her books. Usually there’s a huge mind blowing twist that comes with that but unfortunately that was not the case here.

The “twist” left me needing to sit with my thoughts about it all since I read it. I don’t want to spoil anything but I’m happy to discuss in DMs. She really lost me after that…I felt like I completely tapped out and the entire ending was just mediocre for me from then on.

I feel so disappointed with this one. I was loving it so much on audio that I added it to my BOTM because I was sure I’d want a copy for my shelves…now I wish I saved my money.

This was okay, not my fave of hers. Slower paced but the ending was great. I don't love a locked room type story, but if you do, I'd definitely check this one out. I'm also not crazy about when they use the "trope" (or plot device?) of "is the character crazy/hallucinating due to either insomnia/alcohol/drugs etc " and therefore can't be trusted? If you've liked her past work, give this a try. The audio was decent enough, but I'm not sure I'll be pushing this one into peoples' hands.

Everything from start to finish was so far-fetched. There are unreliable narrators, then there's this mf. Nothing made sense. I'm happy for the people who loved this but more than anything, I am so happy this is over.

The writing was good, and the audio version was great. The narrators and the effects made the book bearable. If I would have read this in print, I would have DNF'd.

Everything just kept getting more and more unbelievable as the book went on. Especially the ending.

I'm so sorry because I hate giving bad reviews but this was definitely not for me.

If one thing is true, it's that Alice Feeney does not disappoint when it comes to a thriller. This book was EXCELLENT. I've listened to so many thrillers that they rarely surprise me these days, but that's not the case with this one. I didn't see ANY of the twists coming. 4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to Beautiful Ugly.
I suggest going in knowing only that this is Alice Feeney's newest novel. Between knowing that and the short chapters I found it unputdownable. There are two POVs. I won't spoil the plot but will share that I didn't know who to trust. It's an entertaining story that was enhanced by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton's narration. I appreciate the added sound effects that announced a change in POV.

3.5 ⭐
I was so happy to receive an ARC of this book because I LOVED Rock, Paper, Scissors, and I love a good story with a main character who is an author.
I'm glad I received the audiobook version of this one because I think the narrators did an excellent job. Though this story wasn't my absolute favorite, I did enjoy it.
I love a good twist and while I did accurately predict some of them, there were still some that shocked me in the best way. Overall, I would recommend this book once it is released.