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Book Summary and Reviews of Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Beautiful Ugly

A Novel

by Alice Feeney

  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Publishes:
  • Jan 14, 2025, 320 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage...and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there... but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can't sleep, and he can't write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[T]he 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...Deeply satisfying." —Kirkus Reviews

"Be prepared to put your life on hold when you start this novel because there is a new twist on pretty much every page. Will you believe the husband or the wife's story? As with every marriage, the truth is pretty murky right up to the very end. This is immersive and addictive storytelling." ―Araminta Hall, bestselling author of One of the Good Guys

"When I started reading Beautiful Ugly I was not prepared to feel such joy in the writing, yet such terror in the story. A missing wife, a tortured couple and a lonely writer banished to a mysterious Scottish island, this exquisite novel is a relationship drama, a darkly twisting thriller and an examination of the fine line between isolation and loneliness. Alice Feeney has created a masterpiece, a riveting read, immaculately written." ―Janice Hallett, bestselling author

"I'm a huge fan of Alice Feeney and Beautiful Ugly is an atmospheric gem of a thriller, weaving an unpredictable and clever plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. Brilliant and chilling, with an inspired setting, characters that jump off the page, and twists to give you whiplash. I loved every word." ―Claire Douglas, bestselling author

This information about Beautiful Ugly was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Labmom55

Kept me off balance
I have a hit or miss relationship with Alice Feeney. I’ve loved some, I’ve hated some. This one was getting so much buzz, I decided to give it a try.
Feeney is a master of creating tension and suspense.

Grady Green’s wife went missing a year ago. Ever since, he’s been unable to write, so his agent sends him to a cabin she’s just inherited on a small Scottish island. The island has just twenty five permanent residents. Yet, he keeps thinking he’s seeing his wife on the island. The reader is left to guess if Grady is losing his mind. Because let’s face it, grief, alcohol and lack of sleep will do that to you.

Feeney has created a great locale for this story. The title is truly apt. The place is gorgeous, but it’s also really eerie. The island lacks all communication with the mainland. And the residents all seem to be hiding something.

The story vaults between Grady’s POV and flashbacks to his wife, Abby’s. I was left not knowing whom to believe.

The strength of this book is Feeney’s ability to keep the reader off balance for the entire story. Grady is a great unreliable narrator. But then, as much as I was enjoying the story, it went off the rails at the end. It was OTT to the point of silliness. By the end, the only character I cared about was Columbo.

I listened to this and both Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton did great jobs.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

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Author Information

Alice Feeney Author Biography

Photo courtesy of the author

Alice Feeney is the New York Times bestselling author of Sometimes I Lie, I Know Who You Are, His & Hers, and Rock Paper Scissors. Her novels have been translated into over twenty-five languages and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years and now lives in the Devon countryside with her family.

Author Interview

Other books by Alice Feeney at BookBrowse
  • Sometimes I Lie jacket

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