Oh mannnn! I love Alice Feeney and this is yet again, a great thriller!! Grady is an author whose wife has been missing for over a year. His agent sets him up with a cabin on a remote island with roughly 25 other residents. There are so many spooky moments, lots of twists and turns. I am normally pretty good as guessing where thrillers/mysteries are headed, but I was very surprised multiple times. This book actually gave me the spooks and anxiety while reading it, because of how many "thriller" moments there were. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I can't wait for everyone else to read it!!

Jaw-dropping twists I did not see coming!

On what was supposed to be a joyous day to be celebrated, Grady Green's life is turned upside down when mid-phone call his wife seems to disappear into thin air.

In the year following his wife's disappearance, his grief has spiraled out of control and he can no longer do what he loves to do, which is write. Now homeless and broke, his literary agent offers him a writing cabin on a secluded island she had inherited from a famous writer in an attempt to help him write another book and get his life back on track. What transpires while on the island is what makes this book worth a read/listen!

The audiobook is narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton. Both have British accents which add a great touch, considering Amberly Island is located in Scotland. The additions of the waves lapping the shores along with the crackling of walkie-talkies and other sound effects make the story come alive.

While I really did enjoy this book, I did feel like it was about little too repeaty. Certain phrases and explanations were mentioned multiple times. I found myself talking out loud something along the lines of "How many times are we going to hear about (insert repeating phrase here)?" This is what kept it from being a 5-star read for me. It also seemed to be a slow burn until the last 25% where it seemed to pick up momentum and finish extremely strong.

Huge thank you to MacMillan Audio, NetGalley, and Alice Feeney for the opportunity to listen to and enjoy this audiobook in exchange for an honest review before its release on January 14, 2025. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Book Review of Beautiful Ugly
By Alice Feeney
Narrated By Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton

"Life is Beautiful Ugly"

Grady's wife disappeared and no one can figure out what happened to her. Grady was a number 1 new york times best selling author but after his wife disappears he can't write anything and his deadline for another book is fast approaching so his publisher and Godmother to his missing wife suggests to go stay in cabin on an island that was once lived in by a famous author named Charely. Grady accepts he needs to write again, after all it's been a year he needs to move on, and this just may help. But when he arrives to the island things are not right. He starts hearing and seeing things, nothing makes sense anymore he feels like he's loosing mind. What dark secrets does this island hold?
My mind was officially blown! The twists in this book had me looking off to the invisible camera in the room with my mouth hanging open. I cannot recommend this book more for lovers of domestic thrillers and Jaw dropping twists.
As far as the narration went, it was extremely well done by both narrators and the sound effects were the icing on the cake!
Easy 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

"I hope you d*e in your sleep"

I'm a huge fan of Alice Feeney after SOMETIMES I LIE but this may be my new favorite Feeney novel. It's so atmospheric and creepy. The audiobook really adds to the creep factor as strange happenings around the island unfold slowly. I had no idea where the story was going and it kept me riveted throughout the entire book. The audiobook narrators are excellent and the sound effects add a nice touch! Highly recommend to thriller fans!

3.5 ⭐️s. I really liked the book as it progressed - super creepy, had me trying to figure out in moments whether Grady was crazy or if the Island was masterminded, and either way, the setup was creepy, dark, and mysterious by itself. The one part of the plot twist I thought was great - it did well playing to human nature assuming things even if it’s not said and I thought that was done well.

But the other part of the plot twist of what happened that night felt too convenient or far fetched to be believable and doesn’t line up to the beginning of the book.

There were a couple giant plot holes with that and another situation that you had to just accept for it to have worked out that way, or that it was ok to be wildly inconsistent.

I wish it was just a little more fleshed out without the leaps and bounds. If it weren’t for 2 major plot holes I would have rated it 5 stars. I did enjoy it quite a bit regardless.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are mine.

This book!!!! If you love thrillers should be on your TBR for 2025! I’m so happy to have a copy!
Grady calls his wife, Abby, to share some exciting news while she’s driving home. But as he’s speaking to her, he hears her slam on the brakes, get out of the car, and then… nothing. When he finally finds her car by the edge of a cliff, the headlights are still on, the driver’s door is wide open, and her phone is lying on the ground. But Abby is gone.

A year later, Grady is still consumed by grief, desperate for answers. Sleepless and unable to write, he retreats to a remote Scottish island, hoping to regain some semblance of normalcy. Then, just when he’s least expecting it, he sees her— a woman who looks exactly like Abby. The impossible has happened, and now Grady must confront a truth more twisted than he could have ever imagined.

This book was so good and the TWIST!!!

The narration was the best I have heard in a long time! Check this book out!

Hypnotic and atmospheric, Beautiful Ugly is a bit of a return to form—while I liked Daisy Darker and Good Bad Girl enough, neither of them quite captivated me the same way as Rock Paper Scissors, which remains my favorite of hers with its perfect ratio of gripping writing, mood, and outside-of-my-radar twists.

Beautiful Ugly hooks me in immediately with its cold opening, and one of its greatest strength throughout is the ominous setting of the Scottish island—even though the story unfolds relatively slowly, there are so many small, yet menacing detail/incident along the way, that really trigger readers imagination to keep reading/predicting the outcome. Speaking of the reveal, when the story finally laid all its cards on the table, while I did see aspects of its twist coming (I might have previously consumed the same media that inspired Alice Feeney), I was still delightfully surprised by the construct surrounding it. As much fun as I had, I can foresee this one might not hold up in a re-read—not only is the protagonist comically unreliable (so he's an insomniac, alcoholic, AND emotionally distraught?), but quite a few character interaction/event will seem convoluted and unnatural knowing where the plot ultimately ends.

Beautiful Ugly is a polished entry that encapsulates everything I enjoy from Alice Feeney: an immersive, can't-put-it-down thrill ride. There's even a small literary Easter egg near the end that really takes an extra level of craftsmanship to accomplish (IYKYK). Also worth noting is its audiobook, which is very tastefully done with perfectly performed narration and sound effect—really enhances the overall foreboding hue. This is good one!

Alicy Feeney has done it with another moody and suspenseful thriller. A year after his wife has gone missing Grady Green sets off to the remote Scottish isle of Amberly to finally work on a second book. His publisher Kitty has told him there's a vacant cabin there belonging to a late author. From the moment Grady arrives at the ferry with his dog Columbo, things seems off and when he makes it to the island, the strange feeling he has only grows. First of all he keeps thinking he sees his missing wife. There are also no phones, no wifi and no way to connect with the outside world besides the postal service. Grady hears strange sounds and sees odd things. Is he in trouble or is everything just in his head? I absolutely loved this story, and the audio was outstanding. I loved the sounds of the waves between chapters, they really made you feel like you were with Grady on the island, in the best (or worst) way.

I received and ARC-ebook of this from NetGalley and screamed. I love Alice Feeney´s books because they always have a way of surprising me.

Grady Greens wife is missing. She has been missing for a year and his career as a writer is almost over. He hasn´t been able to write a book since she disappeared and his agent suggests that he travels to a remote Scottish island to write. When he gets there the impossible happens - he sees his wife, or, maybe it is someone else? Or is it her? hmmmm

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. It was almost like a graphic audiobook with the sounds of crashing waves and phonecalls. Just like with every Alice Feeney book this almost gave me whiplash.

I rated it 3.75 stars.

I was given the opportunity to listen to Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney on Net Galley.
I have read several of Alice Feeney's novels, and will say this one is my new favorite! The narration was excellent, and really gets you into the heart of the story. I love a good twist, and this one didn't disappoint.

At the beginning I wasn’t sure about the narrators voices in this book but I can honestly say that they grew on me and fell in love with them by the end of the book!

OMG! Is the only word I can use to describe what I felt throughout the story line of this book!

The plot was riveting, I didn’t see it coming, I was not expecting the ending at all. It was more than I could’ve hoped for. Best book I’ve read in a long time. Solid five stars ⭐️

I requested the audiobook on Net Galley and am glad I did so. Not only did the narrators do a fantastic job of drawing you into the story, but the sound effects in the background made it even more suspenseful. This story starts with a writer waiting to hear how his book did. He's frustrated since his wife is late, and he was hoping to celebrate with her. While he's on the phone with her, she suddenly stops to help someone, and things escalate. I think what drew me in about the MMC is that he has this way of describing things and often thinks about situations in ways that he could rewrite them. The island he ends up on is full of mystery, and that's where things start going off.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for the ALC!!

Beautiful Ugly was so dang fun. And I’m going to try so hard to convey that WITHOUT spoiling anything. The book starts with up-and-coming author Grady Green finally gets his big break — the same night his wife goes missing. Then, fast forward a year. It’s time for him to get back in the saddle, work wise, because he needs another book deal desperately. His editor suggests a remote island in Scotland where she owns a house, but creepy things start happening around the small town and its townspeople.

K stopping there with the deets 🤐 but oh man just know that it is truly a delicious ride!! The audio is fantastic — I did end up preferring to read it since the chapters are short and the twists come in fast and hot!

3.5

One year ago Grady Green was on the phone with his wife as she was on her way home, and she disappeared. Ever since, Grady has been grappling with her disappearance. He keeps replaying the moment over and over again, but moving on is impossible when the only thing investigators were able to find was her red coat. Once a reasonably well-known author, Grady hasn't been able to write anything and he's missed more than a few deadlines. With his publisher breathing down his neck to either deliver something or return the advance, Grady's agent takes pity on him and offers up the use of a cabin she inherited on the tiny, remote island of Amberly.

Once there, the isolation and remoteness of the island does prove beneficial to his writing. Soon, though, Grady begins to see the cracks in the surface. Is his grief from the loss of his wife affecting his reality? Or is everyone on the island hiding something?

There is no doubt that Alice Feeney really knows how to write a page-turner. It's very possible that the phrase "just one more chapter" was coined due to people reading her books and not being able to put them down. Beautiful Ugly certainly keeps with this tradition.

For me, it's more of a return to form from the more predictable Good Bad Girl. I think Alice Feeney excels when she's examining relationships between married (or formerly married) people. Of course what it really boils down to is our ability to keep secrets. Either from ourselves or from other people, it's those innermost thoughts and actions that you fear bringing to the surface. Some secrets cannot help but bubble to the surface. Then the question becomes, what lengths do you go to push them back down again?

Alice Feeney does well with the tantalizing Amberley island and I like how things begin to slowly unravel for Grady with these great spikes of tension thrown around here and there. You truly begin to wonder what is real and what is a possible product of Grady's overly-exhausted mind. But I almost feel like Feeney plays this a bit too long, by the time the full twist is revealed I was less surprised than I wanted to be. I've faced this similar problem with other Alice Feeney reads. The build up is just done so meticulously well that the ending can't quite possibly live up to it.

Still, even after finishing it a bit ago, it consistently replays in my head from time to time. If that's not a mark of an intriguing story than I don't know what is.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the audiobook. Richard Armitage is back to narrate again. He really leans into Grady's spiraling and always tends to have this shade of gray about him where you teeter from trusting to not believing in the character which really lends itself well to the overall twistiness of the story. Although mainly told from Grady's point of view, we do get a few breakaways to Abby, narrated by Tuppence Middleton. I love the dual narration and the audiobook also includes some sound effects which makes the whole listen more immersive.

I love Alice feeney. Always fast paced and intriguing. I can usually spot an ending of a book but this one had a great twist that I didn’t see coming. Great writing, interesting subject and overall great

This was an interesting one for me. I loved the first half but the second half felt simultaneously rushed and too long. I was definitely taken by surprise by the plot twist at the end, but none of the characters really pulled me in. I’m glad I read it, but I don’t think it will be a reread.

wow! this audiobook was INCREDIBLE...ok first off the narrators did an AMAZING job. between the english to scottish accents as well as being able to immerse you in the story this has to be hands down one of the best narrations! 10/10 for production bc i also really loved the transition sound when switching pov!

now on to the story!!! yes this had me at the edge of my seat and i was soooo anxious to know what exactly was happening. this is one of my fave tropes of unreliable narrator and also missing spouse. this was fast paced and kept my attention throughout! i would def recommend picking up if you are into mysteries/thrillers but CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS!!! i didnt know there would be mention of child SA and it took me by suprise, nothing graphic but it is mentioned in novel.

thank you so much to netgalley, macmillian audio, and alice feeney for this ALC!

This might be Alice Feeney's best book yet!
A wife goes missing. Her writer husband loses everything only to end up on an island with no way back to the mainland. Strange things continue happening that he must figure out.
This was a GREAT story! Attention gripping from the start. The twists kept coming right up to the very last sentence. I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were perfect throughout. 5/5 stars
#BeautifulUgly #AliceFeeney #NetGalley

I really enjoyed "Rock, Paper, Scissors" by this author, so I was really excited to read this one. It has the usual Alice Feeney feel. It's suspenseful and twisty. I liked the characters and the format of the dual perspectives. This was a four star read for me all the way through until the end. The ending wasn't bad, it just wasn't really what I was expecting, and it was a little weird, in my opinion. I just didn't think it was super believable, but I still enjoyed the story. If you're a fan of the author, you will probably like this one.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a slow start but for me it was all worth it in the end.
That ending had my jaw on the floor. I never saw that coming as well as some of the other twists.

I recommend this book but can also understand why some reviewers didn't enjoy it.