★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

There's no need to be afraid of the dead, it's the living that you have to watch out for...

The day Grady Green becomes a New York Times best selling author is the worst best day of his life.

While awaiting the news that he has made the bestseller author list, Grady calls his wife Abby as she makes her way home from work in London. When he hears her slam on the brakes and go silent he is worried something has happened to her. She tells him that there is someone lying in the road and that she is going to check on them to which he implores her not to. But Abby can't leave someone laying there. What if it had been her? Surely he'd want someone to stop for her? And so he hears her get out of the car and walk away. As the minutes tick by, there remains silence - all but the ticking of her indicator still blinking.

Arriving at the scene, Grady finds his wife's car, her phone still on and the promised celebratory fish and chips on the front seat. But no sign of Abby. And no sign of anyone in the road. It's as if she's vanished into thin air. What on earth happened on that cliff road? And where on earth is Abby?

One year later, Grady is still overcome by grief and hasn't been able to write since Abby disappeared. So when his agent Kitty (also Abby's godmother) offers him a writing retreat on the remote Scottish Isle of Amberley. Grady figures what has he got to lose. The island is so remote, it only has twenty five residents and offers the silence and seclusion he always longs for to write.

He arrives on the Scottish isle with his trusted companion Columbo, a black labrador, after a rough ferry crossing and the self-appointed sheriff and ferrymaster Sandy drives him to the secluded cabin that once belonged to famed author Charles Whittaker before his untimely death, thus bequeathing this little cabin to Kitty in his will. Grady welcomed the tranquility and seclusion, hoping it will kickstart his writing. At least, he did at first.

But then strange things began happening. The strangest of all being when he sees a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife Abby! Until he looks again and she's gone. Did he really see her? Or is he so sleep deprived he is hallucinating?

Despite the strange goings on (of which there are plenty), Grady manages to churn out what he believes to be his best book yet - which he titles "Beautiful Ugly" - and sends it off to Kitty. And then he makes plans to leave the island. But he soon finds no one is forthcoming with ferry times or even about him leaving the island. And soon, Grady begins to wonder whether coming to Amberley was the best thing for him at all?!

The Isle of Amberley is a strange place. It is six miles long and five miles wide (I don't do miles as I'm metric but even I know that isn't very big) with a total population of twenty five residents. But that's not the strangest thing about them (I'll leave that one for you to discover). And yet, there is no phone signal, no landlines, no internet, no connection with the outside world. Even the ferry runs just twice a week (weather permitting) and there is no timetable for the ferry out...because "no one leaves Amberley".

First off, a huge THANK YOU to Alice Feeney for NOT injuring or killing off Columbo, Grady's trusted black labrador and companion. There was a moment there when Grady told Columbo that he had to leave him there (in the cabin) as it would be quicker without him and I started getting anxious. NO! Don't leave him behind! And I had visions of him returning to finding Columbo missing or something worse. But thankfully (no spoilers), this didn't happen and Columbo is alive and well. Injuring or killing off a beloved pet such as a loving companionable dog is a big no-no for me in books and I have been known to stop reading the moment it happens, never to finish it. So THANK YOU!!

There are so many layers to this intricate psychological thriller by one of the biggest Queens of Twist authors. And the beautiful setting of a remote Scottish island is both atmospheric and claustrophobic at the same time. It's tranquility and isolation are used masterfully giving the air of an illusionary calm. It isn't long before Grady begins to notice strange goings on and the hallucinatory visions he sees has him questioning what's real and what's not. But it's not only Grady that is questioning the reality but the reader as well. And one has to ask, is someone playing mind games or is Grady finally cracking under the grief of losing Abby? And yet everyone behaves oddly and everything just feels off.

There's a tension that is palpable throughout with a spooky and sinister undertone that is both chilling and eerie. Which is only made moreso by the unreliable narration that we didn't know was unreliable. But who is unreliable and who is reliable? And the plot twist?! I'm not just saying that - it really DOES have a great plot twist! But buckle up, because nothing is as it seems on the Isle of Amberley. It's like the Hotel California - you can check out any time you want but you can never leave.

Feeney delivers some cliched quotes that pepper the story throughout but in a way that tells the story that is unfolding before our eyes. There are some very clever witty quotes and some you have to re-read to try and get your head around. The most memorable quote of the entire book is the very last line, delivered with maximum effect and jaw-dropping realisation.

A dark tale about marriage and revenge but with a devious and unique twist.

I would like to thank #AliceFeeney, #Netgalley and #FlatironBooks for an ARC of #BeautifulUgly in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

One minute author Grady Green is on top of the world the next his world comes crashing down. He has not been able to write anything since that fateful day. However his agent is determined to get him writing a best seller again and suggests he hole up in a cottage she owns on an isolated Scottish island. Peace with no distractions could be just what he needs.

In Beautiful Ugly, as with most Alice Feeney books darkness descends more or less as soon as you start reading. Then following our protagonist a year later mystery continues to linger just like the mist I envisage surrounding the eerie Scottish island he is about to arrive at. For most of the book I had no idea what was going on...in a good way and I was happy to just go along for the ride and wait for Feeney to reveal more along the way. I was so immersed in the island's atmosphere and the local's quirks that I didn't even realise something that was staring me right in the face. I did suspect a small part of where the story was headed but couldn't quite fit it together with everything else. After revelling in the slow burn twistiness of Grady's time on the island I was slightly disappointed by the speed of the reveals at the end but then the final crescendo was highly satisfying. I love a book within a book and Feeney played this to perfection in that it added an extra something to the thrilling plot, I just hope she didn't write it from experience!

Thank you for letting me read a digital copy of this amazing book. Alice Feeney, all I can say is “wow”! What an incredible story you’ve written. It was fantastic. I didn’t expect the twists at the end but they were perfect. I look forward to the next book. Thank you.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeny is as craftily plotted and twisty as one has come to expect of the Queen-of-twists.

The night Grady Green’s latest thriller makes it to the New York Times bestsellers list is also the night his wife vanishes. The disappearance, with no clue as to whether she is dead or alive, wrecks Grady’s life, draining his creative juices and making him a pauper. After a year of despair, Grady accepts the lifeline thrown by his agent, also his wife’s godmother, which will let him occupy the cabin of a deceased writer on a remote island off the Scottish coast and attempt to write again. With a resident population of twenty-five – no visitors for much of the year – and a tenuous connection with the mainland, the remote but picturesque island seems ideal for someone like Grady. But his stay on the island is marked by occurrences that rapidly rob Grady of his sanity – from visions of his wife to ominous messages – and it seems that his leaving the island alive is impossible.

Beautiful Ugly features Feeny’s trademark unreliable narrators and a storytelling that leads the reader away from the truth. The characters are well-crafted, but none of them, barring Columbo, Grady's dog, are much likeable. While it begins well enough, with the wife’s disappearance and the husband’s deterioration followed by plans of redemption, the plot slackens once Grady starts living on the island and picks up towards the end. The twists and the revelations towards the end are unexpected, albeit stretching plausibility at times, and the finish is satisfactory if somewhat darker than expected. If I have to compare, Feeny's previous, Good Bad Girl, was far more enjoyable due to its excellent set of characters in addition to the other Feeny features. Nevertheless, I liked Beautiful Ugly for its unreliable narration, eerie setting, and the twists that Feeny invariably delivers and would rate it 3.5 out of 5.

I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for the digital review copy of Beautiful Ugly through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

This was a twisty, atmospheric read full of eerie moments, curious character and just the right amount of mystery to keep you guessing. Grady Green makes for a compelling, flawed protagonist, and his unraveling journey adds depth to the spooky plot. The story starts with a chilling disappearance and only gets stranger from there. While there were times the pacing could’ve picked up, especially in the middle, the slow build did help to create a haunting, suspenseful tone. The island setting added an extra layer of creepiness. A solid pick for fans of psychological thrillers with a supernatural edge.

The beginning of the book gripped me as we meet Grady and find out his wife has disappeared without a trace and a year after his agent is sending him to an island to help him get back into writing another book and resuming his career. From here we see him spiralling and wandering what’s real and what isn’t real and then suddenly there are many twists and turns especially towards the end which make it a bit hard to follow along with all the new things being thrown at you.

In this novel, we meet author Grady Green as he is on the phone to his wife just as she disappears. We then cut to Grady a year later, struggling with the disappearance of his wife and with his career suffering as a result. When his agent offers him the use of her isolated cabin on a remote Scottish island, Grady grasps at the chance to relax and write. However, the island and its inhabitants are not what he expected.

As ever with this author, this book is a slow-burn suspense thriller, with plenty of twists, turns, and surprises along the way. The plot is engaging and the conclusion is satisfying.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I found this to be good in parts but then towards the end it kind of lost me a bit and maybe for me personally there were one too many twists and turns

This was bonkers and so fun! Not my favorite Alice Feeney but a fun read nonetheless, especially if you like unrealistic thrillers where you just ride along.

Thank you for letting me read a digital copy of this amazing book. Alice Feeney, all I can say is “wow”! What an incredible story you’ve written. It was fantastic. I didn’t expect the twists at the end but they were perfect. I look forward to the next book. Thank you.

#NetGalley #BeautifulUgly

My first Feeny book!
So, a writer whose book has reached number one on the New York bestseller list… and that same night, his Wife disappears without a trace. As a faithful husband, he naturally grieves and tries to find his wife and understand what happened, but now it’s been a year and she’s still nowhere to be found. He’s just a shadow, he doesn’t sleep, he doesn’t write… so his agent sends him to a secluded Scottish island so he can write in peace.
But what his agent dosen't tell him is that once he’s on the island, it’s almost impossible for him to leave, that only women live on the island, and that the house he’s going to live in once belonged to a very famous writer.
It’s a strange house. It’s like being looked after by a fairy folk, because there’s always food waiting for him and there’s always a fire in the fireplace and everything he needs just appears as if by magic and then he finds…
What happens next and how/or if he gets off that island … that is in the hands of our brilliant author and you’re reading it.

A real pleasure to read!

I have previously read a couple of Alice Feeney’s novels and enjoyed them so was excited to read this one.
This book was really engaging and I couldn’t work out what was happening for quite a long time with twists and turns. It kept me reading late at night until I could work out what an earth was going on! Well recommended read

Only just got round to reading this but oh my word!! Always has me guessing the twists and turns. Yet again I was tricked!! I love love love Feeneys writing and devoured this in a day!

Another excellent read by Alice Feeney. I love the way that Alice keeps you guessing right until the very end. 5 stars

I’ve always enjoyed Alice Feeney’s books, and this one was no exception. It’s a gripping, atmospheric story packed with twists, red herrings and just the right amount of unease.

From the start, I felt completely drawn in as Grady tries to rebuild his life after Abby. The descriptions are beautifully vivid, especially the island setting, which Feeney brings to life so well that you can almost feel the isolation and tension creeping in.

There was a point where I thought I’d cracked it - only to be completely thrown off track. It’s one of those stories that keeps you second guessing right up until its chilling, brilliant ending.

Dark, intriguing and unsettling in all the best ways, this is another cleverly crafted thriller from Feeney!

This book kept me turning the pages as I wanted to find out what happened. I felt there was alot going on, on such a small island, There were twists and one in particular I did not quite understand.

Alice Feeney is one of my favourite authors and I know her books will always be a hit for me! Her writing style is so engaging and I love the way she describes each scene.

A thrilling story that held my attention from page one. Alice Feeney is simply brilliant and I love her books and writing style . Highly recommend. Easy 5 plus 🌟. This is a must read

Such a good thriller!! Alice Feeney has a way of writing that leaves you on edge and the setting >>> SO GOOD
I had such fun buddy reading in a book club with the publisher, it made the experience even better.

Alice Feeney is the queen of plot twists and she executes them so well! Just when you think you know bam there comes the plot twist!

I just love this book. It blew my mind. On the island nothing is what it seems to be. Odd and bizarre things happen on this island. There are so many crazy characters on the island too they are all unlikable.