Beautiful Ugly

IN A NUTSHELL
'Beautiful Ugly' was a five-star read with great storytelling, great narration, great suspense, and a clever, satisfying conclusion.

‘Beautiful Ugly’ was my first Alice Feeney novel and it was astonishingly good. Given that it was about a recently widowed thriller writer retreating to a remote, barely inhabited island, I’d expected a bookish domestic psychological thriller. To my surprise, the book had quite a spooky, menacing atmosphere from the start, more like a slow-burn horror novel than a domestic mystery.

The story is told mostly as a first person, present-day account by the author Grady Green, narrated by Richard Armitage, interspersed with first person some-time-earlier accounts from an unnamed woman, narrated show more by Tuppence Middleton. I was drawn in immediately, both by Alice Feeney’s excellent writing and by the perfectly pitched narration.

From the start, I felt I couldn't trust what I was being told by Grady Green. I made allowances for his grief and It wasn't that I thought he was lying. It was more that he seemed like a man who habitually avoided unpleasant truths. Even so, I was engaged enough with him to feel anxious on his behalf as the events on the island started to feel more and more menacing in subtle, non-dramatic but deeply disturbing ways.

The sense of menace was increased by the slices of historical narrative told from a woman's point of view. They were vivid and tense but I couldn't identify whose story was being told or how their story related to Grady Green. The only thing that was clear was that these slices of life were strung together by a thread of misogyny. Given that Grady was the only man on an island populated by women, the narratives added to the sense of non-specific threat.

For much of the book I had no idea where the story was going but I knew that I absolutely had to find out.

I loved how hard it was to tell truth from lies, deception from delusion and paranoia from necessary caution.

The ending left my head spinning, it was so surprising and so perfect. show less

A strange story that reads like a fantasy novel, but becomes real in its ending. I'm glad I read.
Kirkus: Following the mysterious disappearance of his wife, a struggling London novelist journeys to a remote Scottish island to try to get his mojo back—but all, of course, is not what it seems.

Grady Green hits the pinnacle of his publishing career on the same night that his life goes off the rails—first his book lands on the New York Times bestseller list, and then his wife, Abby, goes missing on her way home. A year later, Grady is a mere shadow of his former self: out of money and out of ideas. So, when his agent, Abby’s godmother, suggests that he spend some time on the Isle of Amberly, in a log cabin left to her by one of her show more writers, it seems as good a plan as any. With free housing for himself and his dog and a beautiful, distraction-free environment, maybe he can finally complete the next novel. But from the very beginning, Grady’s experiences with Amberly seem weird, if not downright ominous: As a visitor, he’s not allowed to bring his car onto the island; the local businesses are only open for a few hours at a time; and there are no birds. At all. Not to mention the skeletal hand he finds buried under the floorboards of the cabin, the creepy harmonica music in the woods, and the occasional sighting of a woman in a red coat who’s a dead ringer for Abby. As Grady falls deeper and deeper into insomnia and alcoholism, he begins to realize his being on the island is no accident—and that should make him very afraid. Through occasional chapters from before Abby’s disappearance, told from her point of view, we learn that Grady is not necessarily a reliable narrator, and the book’s slow unfolding of dread, mystery, and then truth is both creative and well-paced. Every chapter heading is an oxymoron, like the title, reminding us of the contradictions at the heart of every story.

“Nasty little fellows…always get their comeuppance,” a movie character once said. Deeply satisfying. show less

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. show more 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. show less

Wow, this book was a wild ride. Beautiful Ugly totally sucked me in from the start and didn’t let go. It had all the twisty, jaw-dropping moments I’ve come to expect from Alice Feeney, and I was hooked trying to piece everything together. Just when I thought I had it figured out—nope. She got me again.

I listened to a lot of this one on audio, and it was so good. The narration was spot on and actually kept my attention the whole time—which rarely happens for me with audiobooks. Only certain books can do that, and this one nailed it.

The way the story jumps between timelines and perspectives made it even more gripping. It’s dark, emotional, and really digs into beauty, identity, and the masks people wear. Some parts were show more heartbreaking, others totally messed with my head—in the best way.

Also—I can’t believe I’m saying this—but I actually felt bad for Grady. He was a total mess, but somehow Feeney made me feel a little sorry for him. That said… he 100% got what was coming to him.

I knocked off half a star because a couple moments felt a little too perfectly timed or dramatic, but honestly, that’s me being picky. I flew through this one. It’s fast-paced, addictive, and absolutely worth it if you love thrillers that keep you guessing.

If you like twisty plots, layered characters, and audiobooks that actually hold your attention, definitely give this one a shot. Feeney crushed it again. show less

3.5⭐ (rounded up because I loved the audio narration)

“Sometimes I think we are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.”

One year after the mysterious disappearance of his wife Abby, author Grady Green is facing financial troubles and struggling with his writing career. Despite his last book being a NYT best seller. Consumed by grief for his missing wife, he is unable to write and his publishers aren’t happy. His agent, who was also his wife’s godmother, throws him a lifeline, offering him the use of a cabin on a Scottish island, previously owned by a successful writer, which she inherited upon his demise. But the remote island of Emberly, population of twenty-five, holds many secrets. From seeing a woman who bears an show more uncanny resemblance to his missing wife, to the eerie occurrences at his cabin and the strange behavior of the locals – Grady soon realizes that not all might not be at it appears on this isolated island and he is trapped. Is there any truth to what he is experiencing or is his mind playing tricks on him? Will he be able to figure out the truth behind his wife’s disappearance and escape before it's too late?

“Marriage is made of a million beautiful and ugly moments stitched together into a shared tapestry of memories, all of which are viewed and remembered slightly differently, like two people staring at the same painting from opposite ends of a room.”

With its vivid atmospheric setting, intriguing plot and interesting cast of characters Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney is an engaging psychological thriller. I enjoyed following the narrative, which is shared from dual perspectives, as it progressed and thought the author did a good job of building tension and at no point did the narrative lose its momentum. there is a lot to unravel and the author does a great job weaving the different threads of the plot into a well-paced, fluid narrative. You will be required to suspend disbelief (as is to be expected from novels in this genre), but the twists and turns and eerie occurrences will leave you unsettled (more than a few spine-chilling moments!) and keep you guessing. Though there were a few elements in the plot that didn't quite appeal to me and a few aspects of the mystery were not too difficult to predict, I was surprised by more than a few of the revelations along the way. I wasn’t particularly taken with the ending, but overall, I did find the story engaging. Though Beautiful Ugly won’t rank among my favorite Alice Feeney novels, I certainly enjoyed it more than her last two offerings.

I listened to the audiobook which I thoroughly enjoyed with the brilliant narration by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton (9 hours and 19 mins at 1x speed) complete with sound effects that made for an atmospheric and immersive audio experience. The audiobook certainly enhanced my overall experience with this novel.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. show less

A book about a writer and a remote Scottish island? Yes please! Bestselling author Grady Green's wife, Abby, went missing a year ago. Unable to write and earn a living, he is down on his luck when his agent suggests taking himself off to the Isle of Amberly to knuckle down and try and regain his writing mojo.

From even before Grady boards the ferry something feels very amiss about the island and that continues throughout the whole of the book. I loved the way it messed with his mind and with mine. Was Grady the ultimate unreliable narrator or was there something seriously odd going on? The mystery of Abby's disappearance, the bizarre behaviour of the characters and the brilliant and peculiar setting kept me hooked.

For I do love an show more island setting and a map such as the one at the beginning of the book. Amberly takes remote to an extreme and Grady's feelings of being trapped there become more and more intense. I had a little idea of what might be going on but Alice Feeney still managed to throw in a few more curveballs to keep Grady and me on our toes.

I really enjoyed reading Beautiful Ugly. It's cunning and clever, the plotting is tight and the storyline is taut and gripping. show less

Life is a delicate dance between beauty and ugliness. This captivating thriller invites you to explore the intricate web of existence, where beauty and ugliness intertwine unexpectedly. Dive into Alice Feeney's "Beautiful Ugly" and discover how aptly the title reflects the complexities that shape our experiences!

Imagine the same day being both the best and the worst of your life—this is Grady Green's reality. One moment, he's basking in the success of being a NY Times Bestselling author with a loving wife; the next, that dream is shattered when she disappears without a trace. As he spirals into grief, Grady finds himself broke and homeless. Just when it seems there's no way out, his editor throws him a lifeline—a tranquil escape to show more a remote island, the perfect place to write his next novel.

Yet, as Grady soon discovers, life rarely sticks to the script. The island is more isolated than he anticipated, and the cabin has an unwelcoming atmosphere before the bizarre occurrences begin. As he delves deeper into his surroundings, he spots a woman with an uncanny resemblance to Abby. He's desperate to find the woman and uncover the truth.

And the twists! The twists in this narrative are nothing short of astonishing—some moments left me speechless! I devoured the perfectly narrated audiobook while also enjoying the ebook version I had on hand.

One line stuck with me: when Abby sweetly whispered these chilling words to Grady, "I hope you die in your sleep." Her explanation seemed plausible, but I sensed something darker lurking beneath the surface.

As a long-time fan of Feeney's work, this book is my absolute favorite! show less