I really enjoyed this read, loved the characters and the plot - it was a really good strong ending as well

Beautiful Bad is Ms Ward's sophomore novel and first psychological thriller; having become fatigued by the latest domestic dramas due to their formulaic, predictable plots I was overjoyed that it turned out to be a superbly constructed story. The synopsis really doesn't do it justice as it makes it sound like every other thriller out there, but it's original and unique. The tension builds slowly as you progress, the characters are complex and multifaceted and the plot so, so gripping. I read this genre a lot, and sadly I'm rarely surprised by the twists and turns, but here, I most certainly made predictions that were way off the mark.

This is indeed one of the best psychological thrillers I've read in a long time, and although it does make use of some familiar tropes it didn't take away from my overall appreciation of such a solid, sophisticated and utterly compelling narrative. If you're into these type of books then this is a must-read.

Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

This book was gripping. It is told going backwards and forwards in time, which I usually dislike, but felt worked well here. It starts at the end so we start the story finding out about a murder and work backwards. Again this worked.

I didn’t actually like any of the three main characters so found that I didn’t really care which one was killed, or by who, however I still found the telling of the story gripping and so I did want to finish the book.

It was interesting to read the lives of the characters building up to the main event but I still can’t see why one character was so hated by another. The motive given didn’t seem quite enough.

I’m not sure I was totally happy with the ending but saying that I really did enjoy the book and would absolutely recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author, Annie Ward, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Beautiful Bad in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I was hooked. I really enjoyed the multiple timelines, so you could not guess where the story was going to go.
A real page turner . 3.5 stars.

Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward is tough book to review. I didn't hate this book but I can't say that I loved it either. It started off so well - straight into a the scene of a murder and the police coming to the house after a frantic 911 call. It then jumps back and forth through time and tells the story of Maddie, Ian and Jo. At times I found it to be very slow and then others I was fascinated.

Ian and Maddie met 16 years ago in Europe. Ian was in the British Army and Maddie a travel writer visiting her best friend Jo was an aid worker. They did not exactly hit off straight away and Jo was not a fan at all. They meet in various places around the world for the next 16 years. Now they are married and have a son, Charlie. Ian is not a pleasant man at all and I did not see the attraction. He is controlling and does not give Maddie a happy life. Without giving anything away it is hard to say much more about the story.

It is certainly a different way of telling the story but I wasn't completely sold on it. I did enjoy parts of this book.
Thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

This book kept me gripped. It includes strong characters, vivid descriptions and some unforeseen twists near the end. The story moves backwards and forwards in time, from the 'day of the killing', through the timeline of when Ian and Maddie met, several times, in various war torn countries. It shows a good understanding of the damage done to soldiers and others working in these terrible conditions for a period of time, including the horrors of living with someone who has PTSD. I read it in 2 days, and I am looking forward to the next book by Annie Ward.

I found this book very hard to get into. Too many timelines for my liking, making it confusing but that said I did not give up and found the last quarter of the novel had me somewhat hooked to know the outcome. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

Beautiful Bad is a thriller that is not of the whodunnit variety but the story getting there with the hows and whys.
On the whole I enjoyed this very different thriller, finding out about two best friends, Maddie and Joanna and their lives leading to, during and after meeting Ian a soldier working in war torn countries. This is a very cleverly written book but at times I felt it was confusing due to the three timelines it bounced around and at times felt it didnt sit right. Also their were times in the middle of the book that could have been cut out as nothing seemed to happen and felt it didn’t add to the scene setting either. This is a book in which I hated all characters but because I wanted to find out about the twisted turn of events that happened I was still invested in a couple of characters and I’ll leave that up to you which of those they are.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis of this book was so intriguing. Parts of the book really drew you in and kept you hooked and other parts I had to skip over because the story seemed to go nowhere. A little disappointing that I skipped some of the story but I though this had the opportunity to be so much more

Told in three timelines, now, the weeks leading up the event both set in America and years ago set in the Eastern Block. The back and forth wasn’t confusing and all went to make an excellent story.

This book starts with the murder and leads us through the years of events leading to present day. Just when I thought I had it worked out there was a twist.......and another twist.......and finally a twist I really didn’t see coming.

Fantastic book which I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Maddie and Joanna met during their youth and travelled the world acting as translators and teachers. During their time in the Eastern Block they meet some bodyguards and Maddie falls for Ian. Now years later, Ian and Maddie are married and have a young son and this book finds us at the point where someone is dead.

This was very cleverly written and I really enjoyed it. Maddie needs help to deal with her emotions and Ian is so controlling with his army background. Is she safe? Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I feel sad that I can only give this book a 3 star as it started so well. I was gripped from the start and settled down to what I thought would be a wonderful read. Disappointingly it didn’t live up to the tension created in the initial pages. The characters weren’t likeable and the story dragged in many places. Despite the ending I can’t say I enjoyed this book - it was like a sandwich which had no filling even though the bread was great.

What a twisted story - no likeable characters, very complex storyline and just overall creepy but a really good read. Maddie who seemed obsessed with her now husband Ian from the start, her best friend Jo who suffers from a whole lot of hate and Ian himself who struggles with PTSD and alcohol dependency. When one is murdered the past is unravelled, what was the motivation and why? Brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘stir crazy’ that’s for sure.

Maddie and Jo have been friends for years. Working in war torn areas Maddie meets Ian.
Many years later Ian and Maddie are married with a little boy Charlie. However, Ian is still working in war torn areas and suffering from PTSD.
After an accident Maddie starts having therapy and begins to fear for her and Charlie, Ian's PTSD and the impact of Jo in their lives.
This is a fast moving book but the end will leave you reeling!

When the police is called to a crime scene, they are prepared for the worst: a child’s voice could be heard during the 911 call. Flashback to a time fifteen years before. Maddie works as a teacher in Bulgaria while her best friend Jo is based with a NGO in Macedonia. During one of her visits, Maddie gets to know Jo’s British friends, among them Ian to whom she feels immediately attracted. Times are hard for the two young women abroad and not everything runs smoothly, misunderstandings, too much alcohol and words that better had not been said. Their friendship does not last in contrast to Maddie’s love for Ian, but their love was not meant to be immediately and now the big question if it ever was meant to be looms over them.

Annie Ward’s is a psychological thriller in which nothing is what it seems, in which you have to re-assess all relationships, all events narrated and all characters again and again to get a complete picture which differs a lot from the first impression you had. The fact that different characters’ perspectives are given alternately and that the story is told at different points in time, all mixed up so that you spring forward and backward and sometimes get the same event two times, does not make it always easy to keep an overview. Even though this to a certain extent supports the suspense that is created, for me it also contributed to some lengthiness.

There are two strong aspects in the novel that I found quite remarkable and authentic. First of all, it clearly shows how detrimental bad relationships can be. Being literally addicted to a person never is a good basis for a partnership since it easy opens the door for abuse and oppression. Second, the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder should never be underestimated. There are experiences that you will never forget and you never really come to terms with. They shape your personality if you want or not and have an impact on your behaviour, relationships and whole life.

“Beautiful Bad” could certainly surprise me with all the twists and turns and was cleverly crafted to lead you in a lot of wrong directions.

I wanted to so badly like this book but i just couldn’t get into it at all. I struggled hugely to follow the plot.

This book took me by surprise as I was drawn in from the start and was desperate to keep reading to find out what would happen.
That plot is hugely compelling and the characters are well placed and keep developing throughout.
It’s a fabulous domestic thriller that I would recommend. The writing is strong and I look forward to reading more from this author in future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and Annie Ward for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This absorbing psychological thriller begins with Maddie looking for a therapist ‘12 weeks before’ and then a chilling 911 call in which a woman pleads for help to hurry as a child shrieks in the background…

Maddie Wilson and her husband Ian live in Meadowlark, Kansas, with their three-year-old son Charlie. From the start we learn their marriage is strained and both also have their own personal struggles. Maddie is seeking out a therapist to work through the anxiety and panic attacks she’s had since a mysterious accident that left her scarred and settles on writing therapy with the unconventional Dr Camilla Jones. In these sessions she also begins to open up and details her fears due to Ian’s PTSD and her worries for their son’s safety.

As we’re taken between the different timelines we see the couple meet in the Balkans when Ian was a soldier and Maddie was teaching English to poor students. Her best friend Jo lived in Macedonia, where Ian was based, and the two met at a fundraiser there in 2001. At first Jo was the one to get close to Ian but then something changed and she warned Maddie not to trust him but their friendship ended when Maddie followed her heart instead of listening to her friend. The story doesn’t just focus on them as a couple but also talks about the things they went through separately that shaped the people they are today. In the present day both are damaged and pulled apart rather than together. Ian’s PTSD causes him to be volatile and rely on drink as a crutch, and Maddie’s anxiety causes panic attacks about disaster befalling her family constantly. She dreams of escaping with Charlie and feeling safe again.
The story is told in various timelines and multiple points of view, although Maddie is the narrator we see the most. The Day Of The Killing is the present day but it isn’t until near the end of the book we learn who was killed and what happened that day. Instead we are given occasional glimpses of the gruesome crime scene, which are described in beautiful but macabre detail, as the first attending officer enters the house. I liked that the story was told in this way, it added a greater level of suspense and apprehension as I was always waiting for the next snippet of information about the crime and looking for clues as to who was the victim or perpetrator in the flashback timelines. I love guessing those kinds of things and seeing if I get the twist right or if I’ve been wonderfully mislead.

The characters in this book were strong and relatable, as were a lot of their problems. We haven’t all been in war torn countries but PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks are common, as are struggles in a relationship, the instinct to protect your child, and losing a close friend after falling out. I think anyone can find something to connect to in this book. I found myself relating to Maddie the most when she first realises Ian is struggling with PTSD and wonders how she missed his darkness. When we first fall for someone we all show our best side and it isn’t until later the less pretty things are revealed and by then we can be in so deep that we dismiss our fears and what our gut is telling us, making excuses that allow us to stay because we love them and want this to work. Also, am I the only one who found this book really funny at times? Usually because of something Maddie or Jo said or did.

Beautiful Bad is a phenomenal and enthralling novel that is gripping from the start. I had my suspicions from the start about the big twist but the author still shocked me with elements of the reveal and eerily haunting ending. Fabulously written and unputdownable this is a thriller you don’t want to miss.

BEAUTIFUL BAD is a domestic thriller, twisty, brilliant, and beautifully-written. It’s the story of Maddie and Ian, how they met, fell in love, got married, and had a child, until one night the police is called to their house. The house is in the dark, there is blood, signs of struggle, and probably a child is involved, but what really happened in this seemingly perfect suburban house? To find out, the reader is taken back in time and space, in 2001, in East Europe where a young Maddie is an American writer, journalist, and teacher living in Bulgaria and often travelling to Macedonia to visit her friend Jo, a relief worker. It’s through Jo that Maddie meets Ian, an English bodyguard. From the beginning, their relationship is very complicated and we see them travel around the world until they finally settle in a small town in Kansas with their young son Charlie. However, their lives are far from perfect, Ian in often away for work and Maddie suffers from anxieties that lead her to seek for the help of a psychiatric.

Annie Ward is definitely an author to watch. She created very multi-layered characters and she is also very good at portraying them as real people with their flaws and their psychological and emotional problems. You can almost feel Maddie’s fears and inquietude and Ian’s paranoia that it often made for an heartbreaking read. Ian and Maddie are also dark and complex and, even though the story is told mostly from Maddie’s point of view, she remains a mystery until the very last page.

With an explosive beginning, a shocking ending, and many twists along the way, BEAUTIFUL BAD made me hold my breath many times. The novel is completely unpredictable and the different timelines and perspectives kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. BEAUTIFUL BAD is a gripping, haunting, carefully-plotted, and tragic story about friendship, about love, and about trauma that will move you, intrigue you, and captivate you all at the same time.

Beautiful Bad is a book that will surprise you. I was so sure I had it all worked out towards the end, but I was so wrong! I didn’t see the end coming!
The story is set in different times and is told through mainly by Maddie’s narration, although you get the odd third person account from Ian, and then from Diana who is the first responder on the crime scene on the day of the killing.
Maddie and Ian met back in 2001 in Macedonia, where Ian worked as a bodyguard and Maddie (who lived in Bulgaria) often visited her friend, Joanna.
We do learn about their troubled past and the seemingly complicated relationship between the three main characters. Joanna remains absent from their lives after she and Maddie fall out before Maddie moves back to the States.
Maddie and Ian’s relationship isn’t a simple on either. Ian is really damaged, as would anyone be who spent a decade working in war zones.
Maddie’s account moves through the years from 2001- until now and we find out how she and Ian found each other after spending years on different continents. They have a seemingly happy life on the outside, a beautiful suburban house near Kansas City, but early on we learn that Maddie seeks professional help from a hippy looking psychiatrist. She appears to be afraid of Ian after an accident that left her with a brain injury and a massive scar across her face. She’s also scared for the life of their son, Charlie. Is Ian really the loving husband and father that everyone thinks he is...?
We don’t find out until almost the very end about who died. I found this concept intriguing, as from quite early on, we literally walk through the crime scene with Officer Varga but we don’t know what happened and who got hurt until almost the end. It lets you make your own theories as you read more about Maddie and Ian’s past and their current situation.
There were some times when I found the accounts of their past from the Balkan times a little too detailed and almost boring, but I guess it was needed for the full picture at the end!
All in all it’s a really great book that I will definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publishers for my free advanced copy to read and review!