4.5 ☆
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. 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.

Wives think their husbands will change, but they don’t. Husbands think their wives won’t change, but they do. This is the truest quote I have ever heard or seen.

Man, this story was wild! I mean, mind-blowing wild! This is my second book by this author, Alice Feeney, and she did a good job with this story. I don't even know how to put it into words. I just highly recommend reading this story! But please check the trigger warnings before reading.

The audiobook is amazing. I mean, the production is amazing, with the sounds before every chapter. It's dual-narrated, and both narrators did a great job telling the story and were easy to follow.

Thank you, Netgellay, and MacmillanAudio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎, 𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒌𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 @𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒂_𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌’𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

Oooooo Alice Feeney, you are so good at tangling the stories and then with one thread pull, it all straightens out. The last chapter felt a bit confusing for me, just with how the main male characters end. Ill have to read it again to see what I missed.

Alice Feeney has done it again. I really enjoyed the twists, I didn't see it coming even with as many thrillers in domestic suspense I've read. I really like how dark the ending got..

I consumed this audiobook so fast!!! It was eerie, suspenseful and I was captivated from beginning to end. It was incredibly narrated by Richard Armitage & Tuppence Middleton, there are some ghostly sound effects that really add to the audiobook.

Abby is on the way home to celebrate her husband's accomplishment. While she is on the phone with Grady, she sees a woman lying in the road, despite Grady telling her not to get out of the car, she does and disappears. A year later Grady cannot move one and at the urging of his publisher she sends him to and isolated island to work on a book. While there he meets with the quirky bunch of locals and the ‘island community’ . He thinks he sees his wife. This book is incredibly twisty, and I love how the past kept unfolding.
I thought this book was crazy good and it kept me completely confused until the last moment . The conclusion was mind blowing.. just WOW!!!
I am forever a Feeney fan and this is absolutely one on my faves!!!

All mystery fans will love it!!!! I think this may be my new favorite Alice Feeney book.

Thanks to @netgalley and @Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This book took me on a RIDE. Alice Feeney is a pure genius. I thought I had the twist figured out but I was dead wrong. Literally jaw on the floor dropping. I usually have such a hard time following narrators who have an accent, however, I was able to bump this up to 3x speed with no issues.

Thank you to NetGally and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of Beautiful Ugly. I went into this book totally blind and I was sucked in immediately. The twists were really good and though I did guess some of what was actually happening, it was a very entertaining read. I will definitely check out her other work!

I love reading/listening to the masterpieces that Alice Feeney creates. This was a solid 4 star rating all around for me. I think the sound effects were a suspenseful little addition to the audiobook narration, and Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton did a fantastic job with the narration. This was definitely an unsettling thriller. I think that there were parts that were a little repetitive and there were some lengthy pauses that had me questioning what was happening in the audio version of this one. Beautiful Ugly was absolutely a slow burn - there was a lot of build up, a lot of mystery but overall a good suspenseful, thriller.

When Grady Green gets the call he has been waiting for, it's the best day of his life, until it becomes the worst. After he gets the call, his wife disappears. A year later, he is desperate to know what happened and his life is in shambles. He travels to a remote Scottish island to hopefully get things back on track, but what happens on the island makes him feel like he has lost his mind. We follow along on this twisted journey as he discovers more than he bargained for.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Alice Feeney for the advanced audio of Beautiful Ugly. Publication date for Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney is set for 14 January 2025. I highly recommend you grab your copy when you can!

4 stars for Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney and 4 stars for the audiobook narration by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. I loved the music and sound effects that were included in the narration. It really enhanced the listening experience for me! Taking one star off because there were super long pauses between chapters. I was listening to this while I was walking around exploring Montreal, Canada and I kept thinking that I accidentally paused or my AirPod disconnected. The pauses were way too lengthy even at 1.75x speed.

I enjoyed Beautiful Ugly more than I have liked some of Feeney's recent works. I was immediately drawn in by the premise of a wife disappearing and a remote island setting. Would have been a perfect read for me but I felt the novel lost a bit of steam at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Beautiful Ugly publishes on January 14, 2025.

There was so much to love about Beautiful Ugly: an attention-grabbing opening, atmospheric setting, unexpected twists, and excellent audio narration. I thought the ending was very over-the-top, however, and there were some eyeroll moments towards the end. After reflecting on the ending, there were a few plot holes that didn't completely add up. I do think that Alice Feeney fans will enjoy this book!

Thank you NetGalley! This book started out with a bang, pulling me in immediately. As I read, I was intrigued by what was happening to the main character. And wondering about the flipping bank and forth between characters. So good!

1 sentence review: An unsettling and jaw dropping thriller set in the backdrop of a beautiful yet eerily secluded Scottish isle.

Let me start by saying a 5 star rating does NOT come easy over here!!! Out of the 67 books I’ve read this year.. this is only my 3rd 5 star read!

Miss Alice Feeney is the queen of twists and this book delivered exactly what I was expecting and more. I think what sets Feeney apart from other thriller authors is that her twists are so wild and well done that I actually take the time to go back and reread sections to see how much of a genius she is.

The secluded Scottish isle setting was so atmospheric with beautiful yet eerie and unsettling imagery. There were a few parts in this that actually scared me (🛏️ iykyk) 😂

Lastly, special shoutout to the audiobook because this was SO well done!! Special sound effects, an impeccable Scottish accent for the islanders, dual narrators, and Thorin from the Hobbit narrators the male POV 😉. I definitely recommend the audiobook or pairing with the audiobook for this to make it extra atmospheric!

Read This if You Like:
🌊 Secluded island thrillers
🏠 TwistSSS you will never see coming
🖊️ Tight knit communities who don’t take well to outsiders 🤫

My Feeney ranking is (probably):
1. Rock Paper Scissors 5 ⭐️
2. Beautiful Ugly 5 ⭐️
3. His & Hers 5 ⭐️
4. Sometimes I Lie 4.5 ⭐️

This book is a very slow build up of suspense, mystery, intrigue. I’ve only read two Alice Feeney books so far- Daisy Darker (loved) and Rock, Paper, Scissors (was okay). So I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I think I liked it more than Rock, Paper, Scissors, but less than Daisy Darker.

I liked the bit of psychological terror that the MMC experiences as he visits a remote island where he’s lodging so he can write on his next novel. But I just felt like it didn’t culminate to anything too shocking or twisting. There’s a lot more that I’d like to say, but it would start to give spoilers, so I’ll refrain from that. This seems to be really popular among other bookstagrammers, so if you’re a fan of other Alice Feeney works, or like an atmospheric suspense novel, pick this one up!

𝘼 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: I thought the main narrator was very good. He did a wide array of voices with different accents very well. The other narrator who did the other POVs also did a great job. There were ocean wave sounds between some of the chapters, which I originally didn’t like, but I realized it definitely helped with creating the atmosphere of a remote island.

So, I don't do summaries for mystery/thriller books because I think it's better to go in blind.

I have to tell you, I was HOOKED on Beautiful Ugly, but it took quite a few chapter for that to happen. But I also finished in one sitting. So why the three star rating?...

The pacing was pretty slow. It took me awhile to get into the story, but once I did there were so many questions and I was left curious. However, some of the twists in this title were just really outrageous and unbelievable. The ending left me really uncomfortable to say the least. I mean, I definitely wasn't expecting it, so there's that.

I did have the audio version, so that could make a difference too. I do think the narrators did a great job with this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful Ugly oozes with the claustrophobia of the tiny island where the authors goes to flee his life that was reduced to shambles the night his wife disappeared. Since then, he has been unable to sleep or write, and keeps wondering if he will see her again, and what the mysterious clue of a doll with it's mouth sewn shut is -- is that because of her journalism?
Finally, his agent sends him off to a remote Scottish island where a previous author client enjoyed the quiet to write his best novels. Off with his trusty dog, Columbo, the author heads out; only to realize things are far more isolated and remote than they appear.
The irregular ferry only allows locals to bring cars, so he must quickly downsize his packing and hop on. He starts seeing his wife everywhere, leading to awkward confrontations when they turn out to be other women. He starts meeting some of the 25 regulars and finding his way around -- and of course he is the talk of the town as a visitor and renowned author, the first they have had in quite some time.
Over time and encounters with several locals, things become more and more intense as hallucinations from a local tea and/or lack of sleep abound, his wife's articles appear in his cabin, and everyone seems to know his every move.
Combined with this trope is the found novel trope so popular in books like The Plot -- as he finds one under the floorboards and has precious few qualms about adapting it to be his own.
Interspersed are chapters from his wife's days leading up to her disappearance, as well as fates of some other tragic people on the island.
After much increasing and swirling suspense, he finally learns some key truths about his life and the island, as well as us learning some things he didn't bother to tell us.
Overall, it's very entertaining, albeit with some gaps and holes to forgive. Pay attention to the chapter names!!

This one kept me guessing, in typical Alice Feeney fashion! The audiobook was wonderful and kept me hooked the whole time. I’m still processing the ending.

Writers like their alone time to focus on their work, right? Moving to an island with few connections to the outside world would be the dream…right?

Thank you to NetGalley, Alice Feeney, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

Oof, talk about unreliable! This book had everything! Abby is on her way home to hopefully celebrate her husband's accomplishment. She's on the phone with Grady when suddenly a woman appears lying in the road. After getting out to help her, she disappears. A year later Grady still can't move on. He travels to a tiny little remote island at the insistence of his publisher to try and work on a book. but impossibly, he thinks he sees his wife.
Beautiful Ugly was CRAZY GOOD! I was completely confused and wondering out loud about what the heck is going on right up to the last page! I never in a million years would of come to that final conclusion. Also that last page....holy moly!! fantastic and I will forever read anything Alice Feeney writes, including a grocery list!

I would like to thank NetGalley for the advance audio of this book. I will start with the things that I did like . I liked the narrator and changes in the voices of the characters. I also liked the music and sound effects. However , the actual book was just ok. The plot twist actually ticked me off lol. I was like do you expect me to believe that after all his mourning and whining ? But , I did actually listen to the whole book in just a few days so it did keep my attention and these days that is a big accomplishment as I have many book in my DNF pile

The Queen of Twists, often used as a title for this author, is an excellent description of Alice Feeney and her latest work, Beautiful Ugly. Without really noticing at first, my stomach was slowly twisted into knots while reading this book - it's like life went sideways and I couldn't figure out how to straighten it up. Grady Green is a struggling author whose wife has disappeared. His agent offers him a writing cabin on the small, remote island of Amberley off of Scotland's coast. And from the moment he arrives, the world is enveloped in a dream. It's impossible to know what is Grady's imagination and what is really happening in his life, and it only gets stranger and more oddly terrifying. The strangely oxymoronic chapter titles add to the disorienting nature of the story. The characters in this novel are so well written that I could have been walking on the island of Amberly with them. I listened to the audiobook and I'm going to say that I think it's the best way to go. The narrator is superb and there are interludes of music and sound effects that complete this atmospheric tale. I recognize that the ending had some elements that defied belief, but in the context of this story, I felt like it was appropriate. I'm a fan of Ms. Feeney's earlier work, in particular Daisy Darker, and this novel did not disappoint.

This ARC audiobook was provided by NetGalley and the publisher, the opinions expressed herein are strictly my own.

Well, they can't all be winners and unfortunately this one was not a winner for me. I usually enjoy Feeney's twisty stories but this one felt to me like it took way too long to get to anything twisty and I never really got invested in Grady and Abby. Once the twists come, they're definitely in standard Feeney surprises, but this book just felt like a slog to me. I both read and listened to this title to get a feel for which to recommend to patrons and will definitely recommend the physical over the audio this time around as I enjoyed that experience more. Thank you to Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the early access to this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney is a gripping psychological thriller that explores grief, obsession, and the haunting question of what really happened to a missing person. The story opens with a chilling moment: Grady receives a call from his wife, Abby, only to hear her slam on the brakes, get out of the car, and then—nothing. When he finds her car near a cliff with the door ajar and her phone still inside, Abby has vanished without a trace.

A year later, Grady, consumed by grief and unable to move on, retreats to a remote Scottish island in an attempt to regain control of his life. There, he encounters an eerie twist—he sees a woman who looks exactly like Abby. This mysterious encounter sets the stage for a tense unraveling of secrets and psychological suspense.

Feeney expertly weaves a tale that keeps the reader questioning what is real and what is merely a product of Grady's fractured mind. The atmosphere of the isolated island adds to the sense of unease, while the suspense builds as Grady's desperate search for answers leads him to unsettling revelations. With her signature style, Feeney crafts a novel full of twists and turns, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the very last page.

Beautiful Ugly is a haunting exploration of love, loss, and the lengths one will go to in order to understand the truth. It’s a captivating read for fans of psychological thrillers who enjoy complex characters and unpredictable plots.

The ending had me saying "wow, what did I just read!"

I loved the audio version of this book. It was so well done and the characters truly came to life!