“Beautiful Ugly” is an atmospheric novel by author Alice Feeney that gripped me early on and held me to the very end. This is an excellent read full of suspense, emotion and obsession all set against the mysterious location of a remote Scottish island.

Grady Green is an author whose world is rocked following the disappearance of his wife, Abby. On the day Abby disappeared Grady was on top of the world due to the news that his latest novel was a success. He was eagerly waiting for his wife to get home to share his news when he receives a phone call off her. His mood rapidly changes when during the phone call Abby disappears and her car is found abandoned by the edge of a cliff, the driver’s door left open, and her phone still in the seat.

A year later, Grady is still suffering the loss of his wife and feels unable to write or sleep. In desperation he takes up the offer of his agent to flee to a desolate island to try to get back to writing. Grady not only misses Abby but is tormented by the mysteries surrounding her disappearance. While he is travelling to the island he catches sight of a woman who looks exactly like Abby and he starts to wonder what is real.

Grady is an excellent character, suffering deeply from his wife’s disappearance, feeling guilt, grief and obsession almost all the time. The island is very different, very atmospheric, mysterious and plenty of unusual characters. The island appeared to be a perfect solution to Grady’s torment but there is definitely something not right on the Scottish island. The isolation adds to the atmospheric tension and suspense.

Grady is not only forced to confront the mystery of his wife’s disappearance, but also the darker aspects of his own soul. His obsession with uncovering the truth leads him down a path of self-reflection where he grapples with guilt, unresolved trauma, and the haunting fear of abandonment. The deeper he delves into the secrets of his marriage the more he is confronted with the reality of his own imperfections, the “ugly”.

A thought provoking novel combining a psychological depth with suspense. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Many other reviews summarise the concept well. Therefore, I would like focus on who this book is for.
1. If you are an avid Alice Feeney fan, this is a perfect book. She never disappoints.
2. If you like unreliable narrators and twists, this is for you.
In my personal reading experience, I have had several questions as to why the characters would do this or that, which affected my read.
In other words, I did not buy everything, unfortunately.
Yet, this is certainly a high quality read. I enjoyed disliking the characters (they are flawed and often unlikeable, and sometimes do not make sense; which is part of their personalities)
3.5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan McMillan for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grady is a successful author happily married to Abby. But on the night that he becomes an NYT bestselling author, Abby is on her way home from work, intending to celebrate with Grady, and talking to him on the phone, when she sees a woman lying in the street and stops to help. The phone goes dead and Abby is never seen again. Buried in grief, Grady is due to provide his next novel, but can't seem to write anything, so his agent, and Abby's godmother, Kitty, suggests that he go to a remote island off the coast of Scotland where another famous author once lived in order to restart the creative juices. Once he gets to the island, he feels like he sees Abby everywhere. Is she really there or is he losing his mind?

I have really enjoyed most of Alice Feeney's novels and this was no exception. All of her novels have a major twist at some point and of course I was trying to figure out what that would be and of course I didn't figure it out. This was a quick read and I tore through it in one day. I just couldn't figure out where it was going so it held my interest throughout. I look forward to her next one.

I had to sit with this one for a bit, I couldn't post a review straight away as I needed some time to truly organise an opinion. But, I've ended up giving it three stars. The first.. 80% of the book I loved. It was atmospheric, it was claustrophobic and it was down right creepy. It really made me feel uncomfortable. Some parts were a little slow and repetitive, but it worked for me. There were a lot of questions that you had to sit with and so many potential answers that it really made my mind work trying to come up with theories.

However, the ending, the twist, I found disappointing. For one it was just too much in a matter of pages. It was hard to try and keep up with all the intricacies of the twist because everything comes at once and dare I say it felt like it was trying too hard, it became very heavy handed. It wasn't... predictable, necessarily.. but I guess the best word I can use is generic? I expected/wanted it to be more interesting and there were so many questionable plot points it was frustrating.

Overall, I know people are going to love this book, and even with my negative points I did enjoy it!

A huge thank you to Pan Macmillan, Alice and NetGalley for my arc of Beautiful Ugly.

Not quite sure how to review this book. In many ways it was a great book and I looked forward to reading more each day, but the story and ending felt a bit odd. It was certainly creepy.
Grady is on call to his wife when she spots someone on the road, gets out of her car then disappears. Wracked with grief, author Grady is struggling to write until his editor suggests a writing cabin on a remote Scottish island.
Here, he starts to feel himself losing his mind, thinking he sees his wife, Abby, and feeling watched.
A creepy story, worth a read.

This book was not for me. I found the pace lacking, the characters were uninteresting and unlikeable, and I didn't understand their motivations at all. The ending and "twist" all felt incredibly rushed after trudging through the same scene for 80% of the book.

‘Beautiful Ugly’ by Alice Feeney is a slowly simmering, atmospheric thriller set primarily on the remote Scottish island of Amberley. The lead character, author Grady Green, is mourning his wife who disappeared a year prior on a stormy evening as she was heading home to celebrate one of his novels finally reaching the NYT Bestsellers list.

As Grady gets to know the residents of the island, things start to seem a little strange, and the sense of unease grows as myths, legends and tragic secrets reach the surface… It’s hard to say much more without spoilers, but just remember that Alice Feeney is the absolute queen of mind-blowing twists and turns, so nothing will be quite as you expected.

I really liked the immersive and claustrophobic island descriptions, the newspaper clippings and the final Easter egg like treat for the reader. However, I found Grady hard to relate to and wasn’t quite as gripped as I have been by some of the author’s other works.

Overall, it was a four star read for me, and I’d recommend it to fans of unpredictable psychological thrillers.

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Pan MacMillan via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

First things first - Feeney has retained her crown of "Queen of Twists" with this one!

🔪 Coming to the plot - Grady Green's wife Abby, disappears on the day his book becomes a bestseller. With that he loses all he ever had his fame, his money, the talent to write & even his home - because he never got closure, she just disappeared & he doesn't know whether she's still alive.

🔪As luck has it, his agent gives him a chance for revival asking him to start writing again & to help him do that she sends him to the Scottish Island of Amberly.

🔪But once he's on the island creepy things begin to happen, including him hallucinating his wife.

🔪The story is told in 2 timelines before Abby's disappearance & after & two POVs - Grady & Abby.

🔪 Feeney's writing is exquisite & it's difficult not to highlight paras & paras.

🔪I wanted to get to know Abby more & that kept bothering me as the frequency of her POV was quite less. Her POV also bothered me with what she told about her husband.

🔪I am all in for details including how the MC makes their tea/coffee. But here, I felt the details of the Scottish Island of Amberly was a bit overdone. I first fell in love with it, but later it felt like I wanted more of the characters not the island.

🔪The twist definitely did turnout to be the saviour. The reason & backstory not much - communication committed suicide.

🔪I'm a big Feeney fan & have read all her books but this didn't top that list for me.

🔪You will love this book if you are new to this genre or if the psychological thriller genre appeals to you or if you are a Feeney fan.

I absolutely LOVE Alice Feeney’s books and have read every single one of them since she first published Sometimes I Lie in March 2017. Each and every one of her books including Rock Paper Scissors, I Know Who You Are, His and Hers, Good Bad Girl and my favourite Daisy Darker has left me reeling, confused, gob-smacked and thoroughly entertained. When I saw she has a new book out next year I was absolutely THRILLED and delighted to get an advanced copy to read and when the wonderful LISA JEWELL gave it her royal seal of approval I knew I had to put it to the top of my reading pile immediately.

If you have read any of Alice’s previous books then you know that you are in for a wild ride and that NOTHING is ever as it seems and NO-ONE is ever who they claim to be and Beautiful Ugly is no exception.

Grady Green is our main character. He’s a famous, best-selling author and devoted husband to Abby. Whilst waiting to hear if his latest book is a New York bestseller he is on the phone to Abby who is driving home to celebrate when she stops the car suddenly and then disappears.

Twelve months later Grady is still grieving the loss of his true love. He’s lost his home, is financially ruined and unable to write the book his publishers have been waiting for. When his agent offers him a life-line to spend a few months on a tiny Scottish island to try to write a book and get his life back on track he has no alternative but to take it.

However when he gets to this remote little island, his world is rocked when he thinks he sees Abby. Is he losing his mind? Are the residents of this small community strange? Is something weird going on? What secrets are they hiding and why?

This book is chilling, atmospheric, spooky, weird, messed up, clever, gripping, sinister, full of twists and kept me guessing throughout.

Cleverly plotted Beautiful Ugly tells the two sides of the story from both Grady and Abby and as we know from Alice’s previous books, there is always her side, his side and then the truth. Don’t believe what you read, question everything you think you know and enjoy this book which will completely mess with your head.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Found this one a bit tricky to get on with- the initial premise is great- a wife disappears whilst on the phone to her husband and a year later he is trying to scrape his life back together. However for me the island setting was just too far fetched, the almost coven like community with their hallucinogenic tea, their unwillingness to host visitors and their cult-like behaviour made me skip through some parts of the book to reach the crux of the mystery.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

Alice Feeney has really come up trumps with this twisty joyride of a tail. Grady is a writer and has just had the best news of his career. He has topped the New York times bestseller list! But, just as he is telling his wife, she comes across a dead body in the road. His wife then disappears. A year later his agent calls him into his office as he really needs to start writing again. She has a plan to send him away to a secluded Island. Here is where the mystery deepens. This story really keeps you guessing until the end. I would highly recommend!

I think this is the most unhinged book by Alice Feeney. What a wild ride! Especially the very ending, so many twists. I was looking for my jaw somewhere on the floor after I finished the book.

Not my favourite by Alice Feeney, but definitely a mystery to devore in a couple of days!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-copy of the book for review.

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

This is one of my favourite - if not my favourite - Alice Feeney books in her backlist!

I absolutely cannot get over her writing, both it's prose and thoughtfulness. Beautiful ugly is hauntingly beautiful with a very unreliable male narrator and some bad ass women. I took my time with this one to really absorb every word, and the cover????? GORGEOUS.

The island's isolation gives the story a creepy vibe, making the tension build with every page - this is definitely a winter thriller.

4.5: would recommend

Grady Green, a successful author, has just reached the pinnacle of his career—becoming a New York Times Best Seller. Excitedly, he calls his wife Abby to share the moment. But their conversation is abruptly interrupted when Abby slams on the brakes and tells Grady someone is lying in the road. She leaves the phone behind as she rushes to help, but never returns. When Grady arrives, her car is still running, the door wide open, her phone untouched—Abby has vanished.

A year later, Grady is trapped in a cycle of despair, unable to move forward. When the opportunity to retreat to a remote cabin on the Scottish island of Amberley arises, he seizes it, hoping to find solace and maybe even the inspiration for his next novel. But the tranquillity of the island hides something far more unsettling.

Amberley is portrayed with stunning detail, bringing the island's unpredictable weather and wild beauty to life. The isolation seeps into the story, creating a sense of foreboding that mirrors Grady’s unravelling mind. The locals, initially warm, begin to act strangely, adding to the building tension as Grady struggles to separate reality from his imagination. Is someone manipulating him, or is his own mind playing tricks?

The atmosphere grows more unsettling with every chapter, maintaining a gripping tension throughout. The narrative dives deep into Grady’s mental state, making it as much a psychological exploration as it is a thriller. Every twist and revelation will leave you questioning everything right up to the final, chilling conclusion.

This novel delivers an eerie, slow-burning suspense that builds to an unforgettable climax, leaving readers reflecting on its dark themes long after turning the final page. Highly recommended for fans of psychological suspense.

Grady Green is an author and this day his dreams comes true. He has become a New York Best selling author. To celebrate the news and to see if his determined Investigative Journalist wife Abby is on her way home, he gives her a call. Abby is driving in her car when she says that she has hit someone on the road. She gets out of her car even though Grady says not too and then the phone line goes dead. When he goes to the place that he last heard his wife. The car is left open, but his wife has vanished.
In the coming months he wonders where his wife is. The Police have searched but end up with nothing. With all the stress he is under he cannot write, so there is no money coming in. He loses he home. He gets a call from his agent. She gives him a choice to go and use an old writing cabin on the small island of Amberly. When he gets there, he senses that something is not right with the locals and with all the stress he is under and the lovely whiskey that he has been drinking. He thinks he sees glimpses of his wife. Is he hallucinating or is it really Abby?
Wow what can I say. Alice Feeney has done it again with another fabulous book ‘Beautiful ugly.
At first, I didn’t know what to expect because it is a bit different to the authors usual writing style. But I wasn’t disappointed. This has a tense, creepy storyline and lots going that kept me wanting to find out more about the locals and that famous authors twist especially at the end. I couldn’t get enough of this book I read it in a day. Well deserved 5 stars.

One thing you can always bank on when reading an Alice Feeney book is a story with so many twists and turns you are never really sure what is going on. Just when you think you have it figured out, you hit another hairpin bend.
When NYT bestselling writer Grady Green’s wife mysteriously goes missing, he is floundering and unable to concentrate to write, so his agent sends him and his dog to a tiny Scottish island to get away from it all. But from the outset things in the old writer’s cabin he is living in are not as they appear and he keeps seeing his wife everywhere.
With touches of Agatha Christie and Stephen King, this book will seriously have you on the edge of your seat desperate to get to the last page….

Alice Feeney is a favourite author of mine (Daisy Darker is one of my favourite books) and her quirky, odd twists and turns are just my cup of tea.

However, there were a few discrepancies with Beautiful Ugly. I'll start with the negatives (bad news first, always, in my book). There is something weird going on with Abby, I can't say too much as it's a major spoiler, but there were other, less shall we say dramatic ways to go about her life. But then I guess we wouldn't have heard about Amberley. Grady is SO whiny and brattish, he needs a good, swift kick up the jacksy (he gets it).

Now for the positives, and there are more of those. So many more. I'll start with Columbo. How great is he?!? Just fab, and for those who care, no harm whatsoever comes to him. He really is a great addition to the story (and this is one of the reasons why I love Alice Feeney - dogs!)

Now for my other favourite character, Amberley itself. Oh my giddy aunt. If I could pack up my goods and chattels and go there right now, I would be on the ferry before you can say Celtic Goddess. Hell. I'd even swim. And I'd never leave. The charm and magic of this book is down to this strange and wonderful place, it is spooky, chilling and mysterious. And wild, unspoilt and breathtakingly beautiful. I would absolutely beg, borrow or steal to have that cabin as my own. Sadly there is already a potter on the island, but she makes blue things so I'll forgive her.

They call Ms Feeney Queen of the Twist, which I guess in a way she is, but there are so many authors these days that excel at that (and some not so much). There is a major twist or three here, one I never expected at all. But I can be gullible in that way.

This is a quick and easy read, I finished it in one sitting in a few hours. It's not life-changing, but the possibility that somewhere out there an Amberley is waiting for me most certainly is.

Well I'm now definitely an Alice Feeney convert and will be off to add more books to my library...this was absolutely amazing!!

The writing just flowed brilliantly and the storytelling from Grady's voice was just the perfect tone. There were some really strong hitting, poignant sentences throughout which I'm always a big fan of....and then everything got turned on its head and really took off!

I loved everything about this..the two voices of Grady and Abby, the setting of the island of Amberly, the creepy vibes throughout, the final stretch... absolutely amazing!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the ARC...this is definitely a recommended read and a 5 star all round