🎧Song Pairing: Beautiful Crazy - Luke Combs

💭What I thought would happen:

I’m getting a very wet island vibe from the gorgeous cover 😍

📖What actually happens:

👀Missing Wife
😑Egotistical, needy author MC
🏝️Tiny island writers retreat
🖤Suspicious activities

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

You know I love my girl Alice but damn this was not thee one for me and here’s why:

A) She dull
B) I had it all figured out from the beginning
C) It gave me Wickerman vibes without the whole not the beeeeees! vibe
D) The MC is a douche nozzle but maybe I just am not a friend to the entitled white man right now..,

Just felt like a watered down version of what I expect from the thriller queen…

I will say the setting portrayed was very vivid and made you feel cold/damp and it did initially give a Rock Paper Scissors feel.

Title: Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Format: 🎧
Narrators; Richard Armitage, Tuppence Middleton
Publisher: Macmillan Audio/ Flatiron Books
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: January 14, 2025
My Rating: 4.4 Stars
Pages: 320

Story is told from the POV of both Grady and Abby.

Author Grady Green calls his wife as he just found out that he is a New York Times best-selling author and he wants to share the exciting news. Abby is in her car driving home. He hears he slam on the brakes, she tells him she see someone in the middle of road and she is going to check. He orders her NOT to checks but then he hears her getting out of the car, then nothing.
Later her car is found by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there . . . but Abby has disappeared.

A year later, Grady has not been able to get Abby out of his mind nor able to write.
His agent Kitty tells him she wants to meet. He fears he is going to be dropped. Instead she gives him another chance to write by offering a writing cabin which is located on a remote Scottish island. Grady see this as a wonderful gift – so immediately packs up with faithful dog Colombo and off they go.
On the ferry ride to the island, Grady spots a woman who looks like Abby.. He is sure she is still alive and often spots women he thinks might be Abby.

I felt sorry for Grady and was curious about Abby as well as the Island.

~ Alice Feeney did not disappoint.
The ending was a WOW!
The Audiobook narrators were great at performing the characters plus the audiobook with the sound effects was great!

This is my sixth Alice Feeney. All were great and earned 5 stars from me – and I am someone who gives few 5 star ratings! My first novel was "Sometimes I Lie|" then "Daisy Darker|" which was soooo good ! Then another was " His & Hers"].
The most recent was " Good Bad Girl"
Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and Flatiron Books for granting me this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 14, 2025.

Dark, gripping, thought provoking, and shocking! Beautiful Ugly keep me on my toes and managed to shock me with one of the reveals in the book. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it as the narrator did a great job bringing this clever and well thought out book to life. I didn't want to put this one down. I have to say some of the aspects of this book reminded me fold horror books which I enjoy reading. Beautiful Ugly is another addictive book by Alice Feeney.

Grady Green is an author who experienced the best and worst day in this life all at once. He is on the phone with his investigative journalist wife, Abby, to share with her some news he is very excited about but instead he is horrified when she stops her car and gets out....

A year after his wife went missing and her car was found near a cliff, Grady is wallowing in grief and cannot write, sleep or function. His agent sends him to Amberley, an island off the coast of Scotland to get away from things and to write. He will be staying at the home of a best-selling reclusive author who has passed away. There he will have some time to himself and hopefully get his life and writing back on track.

The islanders are welcoming yet odd. They are polite yet aloof. He chalks it up to them living on an island that relies on the ferry to bring them news and items from the outside world. It is there that he sees a woman wearing a red coat who looks exactly like his wife!

I loved the vivid descriptions of the island. The towering redwoods, the lush forests, the home on the edge of the cliff. It sounds like a lovely and relaxing place to visit and stay for a while, doesn't it?

I had no idea what I was getting into when I began this book. I loved the eerie feel of the island, the islanders, and the tension and unease that began to seep from the pages. What began as a relaxing get away in order to focus and write becomes something completely different for Grady. As he began to experience odd things, I began to wonder to myself what was happening.

What a brilliant psychological thriller! I was completely invested in the plot and Grady's plight. I became more anxious for him as the book progressed. I love trying to figure books out but sat back and enjoyed this wild ride of a book. I ate up the eerie feel and uneasy vibe of this book. Plus, there were quite a few shocking twists and a jaw dropping reveal which I did not see coming at all! I love it when that happens.

Dark, shocking, well thought out, and addictive!

Totally creepy, twisty, and incredible thriller! This one kept me guessing non-stop and questioning every single character. Set on a Scottish island, you can practically feel the mist and cold described throughout the story.

I highly recommend going with the audiobook version here. The narrator took this story to the next level, plus there are added sound effects that create even more of an immersive experience.

This was definitely the best thriller I've read this year...possibly one of the best ever.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC. Be sure to check this one out when it releases on January 14, 2025.

Not having read any of the popular books by Alice Feeney, I was not sure why Beautiful Ugly was the first for me to tackle, but I am sure glad I did. What I got was a psychological thriller filled with twists, turns and shocking reveals that had me rapidly flipping from page to page.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

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.

From the outset I was hooked on Beautiful Ugly. The gripping tale filled with mystery and grief continued to pull me in with unexpected twists in which kept me glued to each page. This mesmerizing thriller expertly blends psychological depth with an unyielding tension that is masterfully told by Alice Feeney.

Feeney excels at weaving these intricate plot twists throughout Beautiful Ugly, each more surprising than the last until a beautiful and outstanding conclusion. As I navigated the tale alongside Grady, I was drawn deeper into a maze where nothing is as it seems. Every chapter teases new revelations while maintaining an ever-present sense of unease—which I have come to learn is a hallmark for Feeney's storytelling and makes me want more from the author!

The book moves at a brisk pace at the beginning and while there is a lull during the middle parts of the novel, the ending is well worth the wait—an unforeseeable conclusion that cleverly ties together seemingly disparate threads laid out earlier in the story. While some may find the ending a bit convoluted, I found it detailed and well thought out. Feeney crafted an ending worthy of applause; one which not only satisfies but also lingered long after putting the book down.

I was lucky enough to listen to the legendary Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton narrate the Beautiful Ugly audiobook, only enhancing my reading experience. Armitage's nuanced performance coupled with additional sound effects elevated this already gripping tale into something extraordinary.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney was an unexpected top-tier novel for me. The suspenseful, jaw-dropping thriller was an immersive reading experience that I truly needed in my life. This novel engrossed me in every word making it a book I highly recommend you start your 2025 out with.

In this dark, twisty thriller set in Scotland, Grady is an author grieving his wife after her mysterious disappearance. He travels to an isolated island to try to write when he sees his missing wife.

I’m a huge fan of Alice Feeney, and I was so excited to have the chance to listen to her newest release on audio. It didn’t disappoint! It was dark, atmospheric, and filled with twists. If you are in search of a page turning thriller with spooky vibes and unreliable narrators, you’ve found it here. The dual narrators and timelines really added to my sense of desperation to figure out what was going on, and when I reached the big twist, my jaw dropped.

Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton narrated this audiobook and did an excellent job. Both characters were expressive and sound effects added to the immersive feel of the audiobook. I loved it!

Thank you to Alice Feeney and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to be an early reviewer.

Wow. Just wow! This may be my favorite Alice Feeney to date? Which is saying a lot because I LOVED her other books! This story had a similar atmosphere to Rock, Paper, Scissors and I absolutely loved the remote Scottish Island setting! The twists and turns were perfectly executed, they made sense, and the story kept me guessing until that last, perfect line! To whoever made Richard Armitage the narrator for Alice Feeney’s audiobooks; THANK YOU! He is so incredible and captures the feel of her books so well. This is a book that I would highly recommend listening to!!

This "BEAUTIFUL UGLY" book was PRETTY.

1) PRETTY Clever.
I especially enjoyed the author's use of diametrically opposed adjectives.

Readers meet the protagonist when he is having the BEST/WORST day of his life.

Readers learn that some experiences can be both BEAUTIFUL and UGLY.

Readers also learn that telling one's spouse "I HOPE YOU DIE IN YOUR SLEEP" is an admirable wish.

2) PRETTY Twisty.
"The Queen of Twists" did not disappoint!

3) PRETTY Slow-Burn
Fortunately, the book's slow-burn beginning picked up at the 50% mark.

4) PRETTY Typical, yet Atypical.

Not a "typical" book about an insomniac author with writer's block and sightings of dead people.

5) PRETTY Unreliable Narrators.
Who is unreliable and who is reliable? That is for readers to decide

6) PRETTY Gasp-Worthy.
I GOL (Gasped Out Loud) three times.
My gasp at the end of the book was particularly loud and resounding!

7) PRETTY Awesome Audiobook Narration.
I listened to the audiobook expertly read by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars.

Author Grady Green is home awaiting an important call from his publisher, hoping his wife Abby makes it home in time to share the good news. However, Abby doesn’t make it home that night and goes missing, presumed to be possibly dead. As a result, Grady’s life begins to unravel. He sells the house, is unable to write, and is basically at the end of his rope. Then, by a stroke of luck, his agent offers him the chance to get away to a cabin on a remote Scottish Island to try and start a new novel. Away from all that he has lost, Grady believes this might be the fresh start he needs. But all is not as it seems on Amberley..He begins to see things, even someone he thinks might be his missing wife. He isn’t sure who to trust or what to believe on this eerie island and begins to feel his own life may be in danger. This novel was slow to start but worth the wait with a major twist in the final chapters!

COMMUNICATION, PEOPLE!

Full of spoilers, so beware.

I feel like this book had so much potential, but it started to get a bit off the rails when it went in the direction of: <i>am I crazy, or are the island people just punking me?</i> I thought Ashton Kutcher and his wife Abby were going to pop out of the woods and be like HEYYYYY!!!! I STFG it was clear as day when the shopkeeper handed him the tea. I was like pretty please don't be this obvious, yet it was. And the whole island playing a game of "gotcha" with Grady and <i>did he really see Abby? Was it a ghost? Was it someone dressing up as her?</i> No. <spoiler>It was a bunch of bored ass women getting revenge on a stupid man. Overdone.</Spoiler> It got old so quick.

I didn't totally mind Grady's chapters. He wasn't likeable but I didn't hate him too much that I gave up. The disappearance of his wife was interesting but I started to get annoyed at the above. Like how many signs do you need that something isn't right here.

Now to the brutal bits:
1. <spoiler>The whole idea of "WE DON'T NEED NO MAN" was honestly so underwhelming. I'm all for women's rights and being self sufficient, but this seemed freaking strange. And the reasoning behind it was just...odd. Okay, you don't want any males on the island, you don't want to rely on them or need them at all, yet you're holding someone prisoner/captive to write books and you're going to steal the money he makes and use it to continue to "thrive" on the island. Doesn't seem very domesticated to me.</spoiler>
2. Toward the end, right around the 92% mark, I had the largest brain fart imaginable thanks to the weird ass way Feeney wrote <spoiler>Kitty, the godmother/agent/who the fuck knows what, was also named Abby [Side note: I freaking hate when authors do the name change switcheroo and call it a twist. It's lazy AF] When it was revealed Kitty was married to Charles (right?) and she came back to the island with young Abby when her real mom died, I felt like I was listening to a mathematics lecture. I spaced out, I lost track of who was who, and I genuinely didn't give a shit by that point.</spoiler> I was praying a huge tsunami would wipe out the entire island and the book would end.
3. <spoiler>The grandma who had literally ZERO real scenes was the one sneaking the newspaper clippings? And for what? Why? Wasn't she old as hell? How was she getting around?</spoiler>
4. <spoiler> Two people who didn't know how to communicate got a vasectomy and then the other went and got pregnant with IVF. That was just fucking wildddddddd. I inwardly cringed when she said she had a baby. That seemed so outlandish and unnecessary. What makes me so mad is he told her he didn't want kids, never have because of his bad childhood. Should he have gotten a vasectomy without telling her? No. But Abby shouldn't have held it against him and got pregnant on the sly because <i>sheeeee</i> wanted one. Just get a goddamn divorce, people! I'm caring too much about fictional characters, but that was basically the icing on the shit show cake that brought this down to two stars.</spoiler>
5. Sure, the mini "twist" that <spoiler>the island was only women went right past me. That's not really a twist, but it was an observation I definitely didn't catch,</spoiler> maybe because I didn't care.

What else? I dunno. The ending was lame. The premise and motive behind the whole thing was lame. She is very hit or miss for me and these are the only other reviews I had written out:

So yeah, skip it.

Ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌ Ｕｇｌｙ

| Thank you @macmillan.audio @flatironbooks for the free audio access. |

𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢: 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙵𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚢
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝟷𝟺, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘛𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦

ˀthis or that:
fake tree or real tree
gift wrap or gift bag
naughty or nice
egg nog or hot cocoa

📖(𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥):
𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 🎱 • 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 • 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙖 • 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 • 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙤 • 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩 • 𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 • 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 • 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 • 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 • 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙛@&𝙠 • 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 • 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 • 𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 • 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 •

💙🩵:
“I hope you die in your sleep.”

💭:
I listened to this in a day, am I regretting it this morning? Maybe just a little because your girl is tired. 😴

Beautiful Ugly is the slowest burn but the ending was well worth the wait. I found it to be a tiny bit of a stretch, but then again, this is fiction and the author’s writing makes it believable.

This book was haunting, compelling, and unpredictable. I also found the writing to be seamless, descriptive, and coming together nicely in the end.

“Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.”

📖(𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯):
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

📝:
I pre-ordered this book and can’t wait to read the finished copy.

🎵:
the narrators do a wonderful job and I love a Scottish accent!

This is one of her best books yet! The pacing was great, I enjoyed the narration, and the unreliable main character. My only wishes when reading were for a bit more suspense/unpredictability and a little bit more at the end. Overall, it was a great book!

Author Grady Green is on the phone with his wife gearing up to tell her some incredible news when she stops on a cliffside road and vanishes. A year later, Grady is still reeling from the disappearance of his wife. He is struggling to sleep and to write, so he travels to a little Scottish island to get his writing back on track. But that’s when he sees a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

This audiobook was so fascinating to listen to. The special effects and extra sounds really add to the story and give you that creepy vibe to go along with the story. The narration was also really good and keeps you guessing. As far as the plot goes, this one really took me by surprise! You will not see the twist coming. It was a fun listen because I continually felt like I was on a roller coaster because one minute, I would feel really bad for Grady, the next I was questioning his decisions, and the next I was super suspicious of him. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I flew through this new twisty psychological thriller from Alice Feeney. It kept me engaged and wanting to know what was coming next. The ending was a little meh for me, but I really enjoyed it otherwise. I highly recommend this one on audio - the narrators and sound effects helped bring it to life.

Thank to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook.

“I hope you die in your sleep…” These are the words Grady and Abby say to each other each night before they go to sleep instead of, “I love you.” They mean the same thing, because wishing for someone to die in their sleep is to wish them comfort and no fear at the end of a happy, fulfilling life. But things aren’t going to go that way for this couple.

One night, Grady is waiting for Abby to come home from her work as an investigative journalist, work that has put her in the target of threats more than once. What he’s really waiting for is to celebrate, because he’s just been told his novel is a New York Times bestseller. But when he calls Abby in her car, she tells him there is someone on the road who looks to have been hit. She has to get out and see what’s happening. When she never gets back on the phone, he goes looking for her and she’s gone. Her car is there, her coat is there and so is a spooky doll with its mouth sewn shut. Will he ever know the truth about what happened to his wife?

Grady‘s life is meaningless and spiraling and he is certainly not feeling any inspiration to write any other books. His agent has the great idea to send him to a remote island where she has a home to get him away from the noise and help him write. Once he’s on the island, he thinks he’s losing his mind. He keeps seeing someone whom he’s absolutely sure is Abby. The townspeople are not only weird but seem vaguely menacing toward him specifically. He’s not getting inspired — but, when he finds an unpublished manuscript from the previous writer in residence here, he has an idea…

At one point in this book Grady says, “This is a total mindf—-!” And that summed up this book for me. I have never previously read anything by Alice Feeney but she is known as The Queen of Twists and lives up to that nickname here. Sometimes when an author gets too twisty I’m annoyed, and it feels like they’re just throwing twists in there for the sake of it. My jaw kept dropping with the number of twists here, but I felt the author came by them honestly and they all made sense. The one at the end in particular was so deeply unexpected and dark that I will likely be thinking about it for a long time. It played on Grady’s biggest fear and mine, too.

I listened to the audiobook, gifted to me from #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio, and it’s a full production with multiple narrators and sound effects. I love audios like this and highly recommend it when it releases on Jan. 14. Highly recommend the book overall if you’re into edgy, psychological thrillers that truly get scary. Not all do, but this one really delivers. #AliceFeeney #arc

Just finished my 150 book of the year and no better book to land it with than the newest @alicewriterland . It was atmospheric, twisty and a little bat shit crazy. ⁣
⁣
𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦: 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥. 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 … 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦. ⁣
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘺’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘪𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. ⁣
⁣
What happened to Abby? Why do I feel like I dislike all the characters? How creepy is this island? ⁣
All this is unfolded with the cool mist air giving you chills as you read. ⁣
⁣
I’ve been craving thrillers and this itched the spot. Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook. It was definitely the way to go for this one.

“Wives think their husbands will change but they don‘t. Husbands think their wives won‘t change but they do.“

„Marriage is made of a million of beautiful and ugly moments.“

3.5 stars rounded up.

A year after the mysterious disappearance of his wife Abby, once-bestselling author Grady is struggling and suffering from severe writer‘s block. When his publisher suggests a trip to a remote island - once home to another famous author - to get back on track, he jumps at the chance. But once he arrives on the wild, uninviting Scottish island, Grady starts to see things - namely someone who looks just like his missing wife. Are his eyes playing tricks on him?

Let me preface this by saying: if you decide to give this book a try, I highly recommend the audio version. I am rounding up my rating simply because the audio production was so well done - from the fabulous narrators to the sound effects used.

As for the novel itself, it took me a bit to decide how to rate it. I‘ve read all of Alice Feeney‘s previous works and always either really liked („Rock, Paper, Scissors“; „His & Hers“) or strongly disliked („I Know Who You Are“, „Sometimes I Lie“, „Daisy Darker“) them. „Beautiful Ugly“ fell somewhere in the middle.

Feeney has a gift of creating a sinister, foreboding atmosphere, and the mysterious island with its quirky inhabitants and its dark backstory becomes a character in and of itself. The story starts out strong, the plot is eerie and sinister, and the whole book is beautifully written.

That being said, while I was glad this book was more complex and less predictable - and more eloquently written - than many other thrillers, the twists in this novel were so outrageous (as in, suspension of all disbelief - you will not see it coming simply because there‘s no way you could have come up with that), they started to overshadow the story for me. This would have been an excellent examination of the pitfalls of someone's marriage, and a dark, twisted relationship drama, even without some of the rater silly turns the story took at the end. Less is more, even for the queen of twists.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

„Beautiful Ugly“ is slated to be released on January 14, 2025.

Thank you for the arc!!

this novel starts out with a missing wife and a husband who is desperate to find out what happened to her. grady green—an author—finds himself on a reclusive private island in the scottish area, hoping to write a novel after this tragedy. it is told in dual first person POV between abby (the wife) before she went missing, and grady (past & present).

i have read five alice feeney novels and in my opinion, they aren’t anything super special and have a tendency to be redundant and repetitive. for 65% of this novel, there is quite literally NOTHING happening in regards to the characters or the plot. after that, there is a plot twist, which i was able to predict even before i started the book. entail, this leaves the ending to be very jarring and bereft with an unsatisfying confusion to the narrative. i saw many reviews saying the last sentence ties this together, however, that one sentence made me more confused than i already was.

all in all, i do not hate the book, but there is too much melodrama and theatrical antics for a thriller. seeing as this is my favorite genre, i am usually quite peculiar about the ways i like these novels to be constructed. the atmosphere was adequate and the setting was pleasant. other than that; the characters mannerisms and deportment were not a strong suit for this book and could’ve used less inessential monologue. lastly, her books have a tendency to over use certain facile plot devices. unfortunately, this had the overall prose to be lacking, which is a shame because there was a potential for this to be a good winter thriller.

I want to start by discussing the narration of this book, which is outstanding. I had never listened to an audiobook narrated by Richard Armitage before, but he does a lot of narration and has also narrated a couple of Alice Feeney's books. He is a fantastic actor, and his talent translates very well into the audiobook medium. I had never listened to the female narrator, Tuppence Middleton, either, and although her role is smaller, she brought a lot to the table as well. I loved all of the sound effects—once I got used to them—and the overall voice work was amazing.

Now, onto the story. This book follows Grady Green, an author whose wife disappears one day. Amidst his grief, he is unable to write, so his publicist sends him to a former author’s cabin on a remote Scottish island for inspiration and a change of scenery. Accompanied by his dog, Columbo, Grady embarks on this journey, and things soon take a turn for the chaotic. It is important to note that this is not a fast-paced novel; instead, it unfolds as a slow, maddening psychological thriller.

Grady begins to see things, hear things, and finds bones in his cabin. Additionally, someone breaks into his home, leaving items that remind him of his wife. The story gradually leads us through Grady’s descent into madness, punctuated by flashbacks and articles written by his wife throughout her career. As the narrative progresses, Grady becomes an increasingly unreliable narrator, and the plot twists become more unstable.

I did manage to see most of the twists coming, except for the ending. There were enough clues mixed in with red herrings to give a good sense of what was to come. However, I did not feel any connection to the characters or much empathy, except regarding the serious issue of abuse that involved a child. Grady was not particularly endearing, and we learn too little about Abby to form a real connection with her. The villagers serve as instruments of madness, making them less relatable as characters. Consequently, I found myself watching events unfold around a character I didn’t care much about.

That being said, it was an entertaining psychological thriller.

I received an audiobook ARC via NetGalley.

First off, the cover alone made me want to read this book. So pretty! The audiobook also had some sound effects added in. This is an audiobook that was easy to listen to at 2x speed, despite the accents. I actually really enjoyed the narrator, which surprised me as I usually struggle with those with non-American accents. Much of it is kind of mundane activities but I wouldn’t say I got bored at all. The twists kept hitting toward the end and I was pretty surprised by them. Definitely a book with an unreliable narrator!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to listen and review!