Wonderful! I would have never suspected him. The island was so creepy once I realized it was all women. I wish there had been a TW for the piano teacher.

What did I just listen to! I really didn’t like the story. Nothing against Alice Feeney. I should have DNF’ed but it was a NetGalley and I wanted to finish! Ah. Not for me. So odd all the way up to the end. Especially the last few pages. Not sure wtf happened lol.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Grady Green's dreams came true one year ago when he became a New York Times best selling author, that same night his wife vanished a mile from their home, turning his world upside down. After her disappearance he couldn't write or sleep and lost everything. When his agent offers him the chance to stay at her cabin on a remote Scottish island with the hope of clearing his head to start writing again he jumps at the chance. The island is as remote as it is beautiful, there is no telephones, or internet and the only way in or out is via ferry with no time schedule. Then he sees her... his presumed dead wife, but is she real? The mysteries and the secrets of the island haunt him as he tries desperately to write and follow the trail to his lost love.

Alice Feeney returns with another twisty domestic thriller. The story is told mostly from Grady's POV with a few sprinklings of his wife Aubrey in the days leading up to her disappearance. Grady is the perfect unreliable narrator, as I couldn't tell if he was really encountering all of these sightings and strange happenings or if they were his imagination running amuck. The dark island of Amberly almost became its own character with secrets buried below its beautiful façade. There are bizarre situations across the island that I picked up on quickly but in true Feeney style some twists that I did not see coming. Some I liked and some felt far fetched. Overall the dark suspense is an enjoyable read.

I had the audio version read by Richard Armitage, with a few chapters by Tuppence Middleton. Armitage does most of the heavy lifting and provides an excellent narration which held my interest throughout the story. I liked the addition of sound effects including the crackling walkie talkies for a nice effect. A very enjoyable audio book.

To preface this I don’t get scared by books easily, and I have read some dark and scary books. However, this book actually had me feeling scared and jumpy. The audiobook was amazing and the background sound effects added to the whole experience. The narrators did a fantastic job telling the story and making me genuinely scared at moments. Our library will be purchasing this book immediately. Thank you!

⭐️⭐️Review⭐️⭐️
📖: Beautiful Ugly
🧍‍♀️Author: Alice Feeney

About? Author swimming in grief from his wife’s disappearance can no longer write. His agent sends him to a remote Scottish island for a change of scenery that will possibly cure his writers block and help him heal.
Makes you feel? This is wild! I love domestic suspense thrillers. So this was the perfect book for me! This one led you in so many directions and you definitely had no idea how it would end up! It was eerily atmospheric. So many layers that ALL come together in the end!! My favorite quote….

“Wives think their husbands will change - but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change - but they do.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to @Netgalley for an advanced audible copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, BUCKLE UP, because I have got some things to SAY. I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt so conflicted about a book before. And I also never do this, but I wrote a separate Goodreads review that is riddled with spoilers, so if you’ve read the book and want some of my truly unfiltered thoughts, you can check that out over there.

I’m going to try to do this justice with no spoilers! For the first 90% of this book, I LOVED it! I’ve read three of Feeney’s other books, and this one by far sucked me in the fastest. I felt like it had fantastic pacing, and the build up of suspense was so well executed. My mind was going a mile a minute as I tried to figure out how all of the pieces fit together—and honestly, I couldn’t figure stuff out. Even the setting was love for me! A remote Scottish island?! Yes, PLEASE! I was positive this was going to be a five star read to start off 2025.

(Insert record scratch) But then I got to the end. Most of us who frequently read thrillers know this typically can make or break the book. And for me, Feeney just completely negated all the good I had finished reading. I’m obviously not going to say what here, but one of the big plot twists was very, very poorly written. In fact, it downright makes me mad still when I think about it. Also, a lot about the ending felt very far fetched. Is that alone enough to make me drop the score? No, but the plot twist I can’t talk much about was truly enough to ruin the book for me, and I’m just still really sad about it.

🎧Can we talk narration though? I’d give the audio a FULL 5 stars for SURE! I absolutely adore Richard Armitage in particular and he was perfection. I also loved the random sound effects (waves, walkie talkie scratches, bells, etc.) included. 1000% would recommend listening to this on audio should you choose to read it.

Always lots of twists and turns and suspense in Alice’s books. This one did not disappoint!!! I was thrilled to see the audiobook as I thoroughly enjoyed a previous book of hers. This is not my go to genre, but I definitely enjoy her reading her books and will always seek them out and read them. I like the suspense, but I also like that they don't scare me too much or keep me awake at night! I loved the plot, and especially loved the sneaky message that was left in the book!!

As my last book of the year, I loved choosing Alice Feeney’s new thriller. It has twists and turns I didn’t expect and an ending that surprised me as well. It was odd, but in the way only a thriller can be. I enjoyed it as much as I have her other novels. I really enjoyed the dualistic perspectives along with being introduced to cast of characters on the island. This one will keep everyone guessing until the end by engaging with the interwoven tales of each character.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. I really enjoyed the narration and sound effects throughout my listening experience. Unfortunately the plot of the book left me underwhelmed.

Grady Green has great news to share with his wife, but when she doesn't come home he finds that her car on the road without no one around. A year later, Grady is desperate to know what happened to Abby, but he also has a deadline approaching for his next book. On the advice of his agent, he takes a trip to a Scottish Island to try to relax and write his book. All is not as it seems however, and this trip may be the last one he takes. Alice Feeney has written a thought provoking, intriguing, book that left me a lot to think about after it was over.

Classic Alice Feeney: a dark, psychologically twisty-turny, domestic thriller!

Are the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and those we love reality, or are they just the narrative we create and choose to believe?
How far will you go to avenge what you’ve lost?
How far will you go to get what you want?
And how long will you sacrifice everything to keep it?
These are just a few of the questions pondered in this new novel. You’ll question everything and everyone in this story, and you will not want put it down until the final page!

“Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.”

The same day author Grady Green’s latest book becomes a New York Times bestseller, his wife Abby disappears. A year later, he’s still grieving, he’s not writing…and he’s seeing her everywhere. When he’s offered an escape to a remote Scottish island, living in the writing retreat of a recently deceased famous author, Grady jumps at the chance. But will the place meant to be his inspiration become his undoing?

Alice Feeney is at her Alice-Feeney-ing best with Beautiful Ugly!

Available January 14th, so pre-order or get your library holds in now! The audiobook narration was spot on! 👌

I’m giving this one four shiny stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and author Alice Feeney for the complimentary advance copy! It was my pleasure to write this candid review.

2.5 rounded up

Sigh. Why do men? While I didn't COMPLETELY guess the plot twist, my sniffer was definitely on the right track to getting there. This was fine. The ending provided enough 'good closure' for me. But overall the slow burn of this story was WAY too slow. I feel like this could have been greatly shortened, because I can only hear about how thig guy's life revolves around his job so many times in so many different ways.
I will say the audio was good and easy to listen to, if you don't mind the incredibly slow burn of it all. I just found this to be predictable and bleh. But as I always say, I'm annoyingly hard to please with thrillers, so there's that. Thank you for my advanced copy!

"...gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage and revenge."
I listened to the audio narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton, an outstanding job with the sound effects and all.
I love this author building suspense and tension on a tiny Scottish island. With no access on or off except by a ferry with its unreliable schedule. This makes for an incredibly locked room mystery.
Grady Green calls his wife, who is on the way home, to share exciting news of his new book deal. When she stops on the side of the road to check on a person laying on the side of the road, he begs her not to. She is never heard from again. He finds her car and phone, but no trace of her.

A year later his editor sends him to the Isle of Amberly to a small cottage in solitaire to write again.
The people on the island have strange and odd behaviors that make it sinister. The suspense builds when he sees sightings of his wife, but to no avail finds her.

There are some creepy and ghostly tales of the island that will haunt you long after the story ends, but that final scene will keep you up at night. What just happened? An unforgettable twist...
Don't miss this incredible writing from Alice Feeney...cleverly paced and titled...
"Wives think their husbands will change but don't. Husbands think their wives won't change but they do."
Thank you Macmillian Audio, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I usually really love Alice Feeney books, this one seemed to fall flat for me and I don’t know if it’s because of me or the book.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. He has exciting news to share with his wife, who is on her way home, when she gets out of the car and then nothing… she goes missing. A year later Grady is just overcome with grief, he can’t write, he’s almost out of money. Then his agent sends him to a tiny island, where he thinks he sees his wife.

Sounds right up my alley, with an unreliable narrator sinister vibes, the twistiest of twists. I’m going to try again with it in a couple months, as of right now… meh.

Appreciate what you have before it’s gone.

Feeney does it again with a great plot twist. I wasn’t sure where this was going the whole time. Grady was an unlikable character. I liked Abby’s character and was shocked with her storyline 3/4 of the way.

The book did start off slow but picked up about half way through. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I do see this being a book club read with a great discussion.

Alice Feeney delivers a gripping and fast-paced thriller in Beautiful Ugly, a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The story centers around an unreliable narrator whose shifting perspective keeps you guessing about what’s real and what’s imagined. Feeney masterfully uses this device to create a sense of unease, pulling the reader into a whirlwind of suspense and intrigue.

The narrative moves at a breakneck speed, with twists and turns that catch you completely off guard. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, another layer is peeled back to reveal something entirely unexpected. Feeney excels at building tension and surprising her audience, making this book hard to put down.

However, while the journey is exhilarating, the ending falls short. A major plot twist, critical to the story, is introduced late in the narrative without sufficient groundwork in the beginning. This lack of setup makes the revelation feel less impactful and slightly disconnected from the rest of the plot.

Despite its conclusion, Beautiful Ugly is a thrilling ride for fans of psychological thrillers, showcasing Alice Feeney’s knack for crafting complex characters and unpredictable stories. If you enjoy an unreliable narrator and shocking twists, this book is worth the read—just be prepared for an ending that may leave you wanting more.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Alice Feeney, and NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

Author Grady Green’s wife disappeared one year ago while he was on the phone with her. A year later, he still has no answers about his wife, and he has been absolutely consumed with grief. He sets off for an isolated Scottish island to work on getting back to writing and refocusing his life when he sees a woman who looks just like his missing wife.

I listened to the audiobook book, and I was hooked from the beginning. The narration is excellent, and there are sound effects added to better immerse you into the story but don’t cheapen the audiobook. There was twist after twist, and each time I thought I knew where this was heading, I was proved wrong. I was in a reading slump when I was offered the opportunity to review this ARC, and this immediately pulled me out of it.

Thank you to publisher and to Netgalley for this ARC!

Grady Green is an author who has just lost his wife to a tragic accident on the same night of his greatest achievement. A year later, he is still picking up the pieces of his life as he grieves. He can’t write, his career is going nowhere, and he is homeless. Grady’s agent, Kitty, comes to his rescue by convincing him to stay in a cabin on a small island off the coast of Scotland. She hopes it will help Grady to heal and be able to write again. But he soon realizes the island is not what it seems. Why does he keep seeing his dead wife?

This is definitely one of those I’ll be thinking about for a long time. It has lots of unexpected twists. It feels like a locked room mystery with a bunch of psychological twists. There are even moments when I felt like I was reading a horror novel due to the insane amounts of suspense. I loved the setting and the characters. I felt they helped to make the book feel more eerie and sinister. There were times, mainly toward the beginning, when the story dragged. I don’t mind a slow burn, but I did find myself drifting away from the book a few times. However, the ending totally makes up for the slow moments. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney- Publication January 14, 2025

Unexpected twists happen in this mystery thriller that is clever and hidden well.

Grady Green is an author who had the best day of his life turn into the worst day in a matter of minutes. He can barely contain his excitement and calls his wife on her way home to share the exciting news he was anxiously waiting to hear. He suddenly hears his wife Abby slam on the brakes, claiming a woman is in the road and she gets out of the car to check on her even though he begged her to call the police and not get out of the car. She left the call open as he asked but she never returned back to the car. In a panic, he knew where she was and rushed to see what happened, and found her car by the cliff edge, headlights on, car running, driver door open and her phone was still there. . . but she was nowhere to be found.

A year later, Grady is still grieving, broken, and disheveled, he cannot bear to write any new books and is still desperate to know what happened to his wife Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, money is running out and he cannot even afford a decent apartment. His literary agent who also happens to be his missing wife's godmother allows him to try and get his life back by sending him off to a tiny Scottish island to try and get back some ambition to start writing again otherwise he will be broke and homeless. A previous writer she represented did all his writing on that island and wrote some of his best books while living there. The island is remote, has only 25 residents (some of who are a bit creepy), and no internet or cell phone coverage to interrupt him while he wrote. The only phone line has been dead for a long time according to the locals Grady spoke with, and they only have a boat come twice a week (weather permitting) for deliveries and mail.

Grady starts to see and hear strange things, including a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. He thinks he is going crazy. Someone is leaving anonymous notes with old articles that his missing wife had written in the past regarding abused women and how the system wronged them, protected the abusive men that they fought off, and punished the women for protecting themselves or ignored their cries for help and ultimately were hurt worse without police intervention. Due to Abby's coverage of these cases, she was getting death threats from some of those people's families and Grady tried to convince her to stop writing those articles and stay home but she was very passionate about being the voice for those women and putting herself in danger. Did a family member from one of the abusive men have a hand in her disappearance?

He hears children's voices, a strange fog and someone keeps leaving him things in his cabin on the island. Something strange is going on and he is desperate to find out why. When he mentions being taken back to the mainland where his car is to get items he left behind, people discourage it and offer to help him while he stays on the island to concentrate on writing his book. Things start to escalate and he is desperate to find out what is going on.

"Life is a fairytale that rarely hands out happy endings. Life is beautiful ugly. My wife told me that."

This book was a slightly slower-paced story although it piqued my interest and was able to listen to it in one day. I didn't want to stop and find out what was going on in this little island with the strange people inhabiting it. Although many were friendly enough, something was off and he needed to find out why his missing wife seemed to keep popping up unexpectedly. This audiobook was well narrated by actors I am familiar with and enjoy listening to. I believe this book would be best enjoyed via audiobook as they did an excellent job.

This book has:

Unhappy relationships
Unexplained disappearance
Grief
Mental health challenges
Tension
Child/spouse Abuse
Mysterious people
Isolation
Family secrets
Bizarre Anonymous notes
Multiple POV
Brief intimate scenes

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Macmillan Audio for a copy of the 9hrs 19min Audiobook, Unabridged from Macmillan Audio beautifully narrated by Richard Armitage (best known for his role in The Hobbit film trilogy) and Tuppence Middleton (best known for her role in Downton Abbey) in exchange for an honest review.

Alice Feeney knocked it out of the park with this one! It was a slow burn in the beginning, but once the twists started popping out they didn't stop! I found myself not really caring for either MC, but maybe that was by design? Overall, I really enjoyed the plot and the ending...OMG!! The audiobook and narration was amazing, I loved all the sounds that were added to enhance the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.