Grady's writing life has stalled since his wife disappeared one night on her way home. His agent offers him an opportunity to use a remote cabin to get away and focus on his looming novel deadline. Things are not exactly as they seem on the island. I wouldn't call this a thriller, but it definitely is psychological suspense.

The audio is outstanding - highly recommend!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillianAudio for a free copy of #BeautifulUgly by Alice Feeney. All opinions are my own.

I listened to the audiobook, and the extra sound effects really added to the eerie vibes of this remote Scottish island. This was a solid thriller to start out the year, and the ending had a few twists that I didn’t see coming at all! It was filled with paranoia, unreliable narrators and ominous settings.

On the night Grady Green finds out his new book is a massive success, his wife goes missing, leaving behind her car and her phone. A year later, Grady is still haunted by his wife's disappearance and its giving him massive writer's block. HIs agent offers him a home on a remote Scottish island to try to get his work back on track. Travelling to the island, he is cut off from civilization. The more he discovers about the townspeople on the island, the more it seems that they are hiding. And he keeps seeing a figure that looks like his missing wife. Grady has to salvage his career and discover the secrets of the island before its too late.

Beautiful Ugly is another twisty thriller from Alice Feeney. Grady makes for a great main character who is trying to discover what others are hiding despite his own secrets. Feeney builds out the townspeople and history of the island, which took a little too long before all the twists started coming, but once it shifted into its second gear I couldn't put it down until I finished it. The twists are a little absurd, but bring together the various elements of the book in very creative and satisfying ways. I loved the ending and where Feeney took Grady's character. The audiobook also had some good sound design to switch between Grady's perspective and the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a copy of Beautiful Ugly in exchange for an honest review.

What a way to end the year! Absolutely loved this thriller. Read both the book and listened to the audiobook. I enjoyed the dual narration, as well as the water effects signaling the switch to Grady’s perspective. I didn’t pick up on one thing about the island, which I enjoyed playing out. And the end still kept me 😳. Definitely my favorite Alice Feeney so far!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful Ugly is a suspenseful, psychological thriller with twists and turns I never saw coming. I knew nothing about the book and don’t want to include a synopsis here so readers can be equally surprised from the very beginning. I highly recommend the audiobook. Richard Armitage brings the main character to life, driving the faced paced novel and gripping readers. The sound design is excellent with added elements that give the story depth. I’ve never read an Alice Feeney novel before although she’s always well recommend. Feeney fans could not be disappointed with Beautiful Ugly. It may be her best book yet.

"No man is an island. But a woman is if she needs to be."

GONE GIRL walked so BEAUTIFUL UGLY could run. When a writer's wife mysteriously disappears, his agent sends him to a remote Scottish island to refocus on his work. Only he thinks he sees her everywhere, especially the longer he goes without sleep. As his mind unravels, unexpected twists send the book in truly unexpected directions -- especially the last 10 minutes.

The narration in Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney was fantastic, with both female and male narrators doing a superb job. I loved all the extra sound effects too, especially the surf sounds. The alternating POVs and time changes were enjoyable as well.

What I didn't love was that it dragged for much of the book, and I really couldn't decide what genre I was reading. Was it a Mystery? Or maybe a Thriller? Was it Supernatural? That's really the only thing that kept me guessing. I spent a lot of time checking the read % hoping I was getting close to the end. That says a lot about how I felt about this book.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for gifting me an advanced audio copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I LOVED this book so much! The vibes of the setting and the premise were so intriguing to me throughout. I kept listening and listening and couldn’t stop. I absolutely loved the story and plot line and was surprised at the ending to say the least. It was astounding how so many small details from the story connected at the end to explain the twists and conclusion. Even when the book was thought to be done, there were more twists! This was my favorite book I read in 2024. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book early.

This book is dark for Alice Feeney, it draws you in softly like the mists on this remote isle. It starts with a writer, Grady Green, phoning his wife while she is driving home. She slams on the brakes and gets out of the car despite his protests, and then disappears into the night. A year later, Grady is still mired in grief and not able to write, so his publisher sends him to a remote island to retreat and get his act together. The Isle of Amberly is the character who stole the story, it's eerie and mysterious, things keep appearing that seem impossible. If you enjoy slow burn, atmospheric thrillers you will inhale this story!

The audiobook was very well done, with dual narration by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton, and sound effects that pull you even further into its hold.

After an author’s wife goes missing he has lost everything but the dog. His editor decides to help him finish the second book by letting him stay on a remote island cabin. Things aren’t quite what they seem. While everything seems off he can’t pinpoint why and swears he sees his wife everywhere. Life on the island starts to unwind as we travel through his past to current day. Was his wife who he thought she was, heck is he even telling the truth about his past. Pieces of the puzzle start to drop as news paper articles appear at the cabin. This was an easy connection for me to see what was going on but I didn’t see the whole picture. Twisted book with intertwined characters and an ending you won’t see coming! I listened to this in two sittings, held my attention easily.

This has been posted to Goodreads.

I think this was Alice Feeney's best audiobook yet!! I was drawn in from the beginning and I didn't want to stop listening the few times I had to stop to go to work. The characters and the story were well written. The characters weren't likable but that's the way some thrillers are. I will say I didn't get frustrated by it though. They were just all so weird.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrators Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton did a fantastic job telling this story. They kept me entertained and held my attention throughout the entire book.

Grady Green is an author who thinks his dreams are coming true. But one phone call changes everything. When he calls his wife to see where she's at she's on her way with fish and chips. But then he hears her slam on her breaks and says there is someone in the road. She gets out of the car to check on the person and the next thing he knows she disappears. A year later his life is a mess. He can't sleep, write and just isn't living.

His agent tells him she inherited a cabin in a tiny Scottish Island. So she send him there to see if he can relax and start writing again. You're gonna want to hang on because this is when the rollercoaster ride begins. This book will have you on the edge of your seat. I was absolutely SHOCKED by the twists and I DIDN'T see the ending coming. I had such a great time with this book. Alice gets a standing ovation from me for this one. I would HIGHLY recommend this audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC for my honest opinion.

I am a big fan of Alice Feeney. I remember when I listened to Daisy Darker (the first book of Ms. Feeney that I got to listen to) - I did not go to bed until I was done with the book. I love all of her books. This one was definitely pretty up high in my personal Alice Feeney Leaderboard. It was captivating and unusual. I think a lot of readers would enjoy it! I recommend it for sure.

I do like a good twisty Alice Feeney mystery and this one was a great read between Christmas and New Year’s! Thank you @Netgalley for the ARC! Much appreciated! For those who did not receive an ARC for your honest review, I say this is worth checking out at the library in January!

Might be one of my favorite Alice Feeney books! Yes, the twist doesn't quite make sense if you overthink it all, but the audio performance enhanced for me as a listener/reader. Grady is likeable initially, but then as he becomes more known to the readers, he becomes less so. Abby is very mysterious as her parts are kind of few, but when you look at their interactions and all that, it all comes together well. The nonlinear timeline may be challenging, but using two different narrators for the audiobook does help.

A highly anticipated release! The audiobook was done so well - it had sound effects and multiple narrators. I liked the balance between things I was able to figure out and things that I never saw coming. The cover not only really got my attention but also fits so well with the overall tone and vibe of the story. Super twisty, unreliable narrators, cultish small-town, claustrophobic island setting, atmospheric and foreboding. I'm not sold on the direction that it ended up going in though. No spoilers but there was one twist I didn't like. It felt a little like a cheap trick on the reader. Not my favorite from this author, but still worth the read.

Reviewed on goodreads

2.5 but bumped to 3 just bc the audiobook was nicely done.
I was able to snag an arc of the audiobook from netgalley and was super excited because this was going to be my 1st book from Alice Feeney, but this book was not for me. The cover is beautiful, I love the title, The book is about Grady, whose wife Abby disappears while on her way home. A year later, Grady is still grieving and travels to a Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. While there, he keeps seeing a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. While the book had potential to be so good I found it boring and very hard to want to finish the twist towards the end was good however. If the audiobook hadn't been done so well with the sound effects and I was stuck with a physical copy of this book I honestly probably wouldn't have finished it

Alice Feeney books always stand in a class of their own for me. I never know if I am going to love the twist or be horrified and want to gauge my eyeballs out (I'm talking to you I Know Who You Are . ) Beautiful Ugly sat somewhere in the comfortable middle for me. We follow a NYT bestselling author as he tries to understand how his wife pulled over for something she sees in the road and then vanishes into thin air. It was a much slower burn than I find typical of her other reads but the twist was intriguing and made the slow parts of worth trudging through.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan audio for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook narration was very good.

Book is set to be released on 1/14/2025

WOW!! I have read several Alice Feeney books and have come to expect the unexpected, but I didn't see this ending.

The narrators Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton were fabulous and the occasional atmospheric mood music between chapters really added to the foreboding mood in the chapters.

Overall this was a fabulous read and I enjoyed it thoroughly and have recommended it to many of my coworkers.

I want to thank Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

Alice Feeney has done it again! I loved the writing and the story kept me captivated from the very beginning until the very end! Such an intriguing premise as the different characters weaved together and yet nothing is as it seems!

The audiobook production quality on this book is amazing! The sound effects and the alternating narrators added so much to the fun of this story. There were so many twists in this book that when it was finished I was amazed at how wrong I was on so many things. I was pretty sure I was dealing with an unreliable narrator but it was so much worse than I thought. I was a bit gobsmacked at the airplane scene especially after the big reveal. I really enjoyed this book and it was a fabulous finish to my reading for 2024. ‘I hope you die in your sleep.”

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for Flatiron Books for a copy of this audiobook.