Alice Feeney has done it again.. WHAT AN EERIE SETTING. WHAT AN ENDING, WHAT A TWIST. LOVED ITTT!!!!!

READ ME…the stunning front cover says, and I did not need any persuading! I have long been a fan of Alice Feeney and since reading Beautiful Ugly, I have confirmed my view that she is an outstanding author and I would've rated this with MORE than five stars if I could!!

Marooned on my own reading island for the hours that I spent reading this novel, I could not have been any happier. Feeney always delivers and there’s something so comfortable about her style that envelops me the moment I start a novel of hers. Her descriptions are second to none and I marvelled at the way that she described so many things as the book played out its opening scenes.

I was intrigued from the get-go and (although the synopsis hints at what the book is about) I remained open minded. This open view continued until I had nearly finished reading…only around the 80% mark did I try to join up any dots. And, at this point, despite me wondering a few things, I just couldn’t work out what was really going on and any theories I did have were entirely wrong: GREAT!

Why? I when an author can fool me, providing me with twist upon twist (upon twist in this case) that I truly didn’t expect…especially when I am still marvelling over how clever Feeney was with Daisy Darker! I think it’s accurate to say that she has gone one better with this and I, for one, didn’t think that would be possible!

The main character that you read is Grady, the struggling author who moves to the island of Amberly with his dog, Columbo. Following Feeney on Twitter, I pictured her dog (Boots) every time I read Columbo and thought he was a great addition to the novel. Without spoiling anything, there was a particular section where I even read faster BECAUSE of Columbo and another where I was quite concerned. How powerful when a book evokes such a reaction from a reader...

The island itself is shown on a detailed map at the start of the book and it’s a great addition to help you place everything. Then, without repeating myself, there are the descriptions that Feeney provides: wow! I honestly thought I was there…all my senses were awakened and interacting with what I was reading.

Usually, I have a love/hate relationship with such places – they scare me with their isolation yet fascinate me for the same reason! The Isle of Amberly actually had me wanting to visit it…well for most of the book until the scare/fascinate ratio tipped from 50/50 to 99/1! But, again, I said no spoilers!

There is another, main, perspective that you read (and one more included nearer the end) as well as another one that puzzled me and I want it to puzzle you, so I won’t explain! I like how the inclusion of this other, main, perspective filled gaps of the story whilst still leaving me thinking it hadn’t filled in anything at all – clever! It’s very well done, and it adds to the mystery of what happened whilst helping the two timelines to meet, like sea meets shore, but only at the appropriate point of the book.

As I said, I couldn’t have been more wrong about what had happened…if there were clues, I missed them. I was fooled. So much so, this is the second book of Feeney’s that’s been added to my ‘need to read again’ pile! There’s also something I want to look at to see if Feeney has done something in this that appears in the book (that’s hard to explain but once you read, you will know).

On another note, I really liked Grady (I felt sorry for him) and enjoyed reading the majority of the book following his time on Amberly with Columbo. I also like how distinctive all the other characters in the book are too – another example of how marvellously Feeney describes things. This book really came alive in my head.

It’s fair to say that I am not a fan of creepy, usually, but I was brave with this, and the darker moments pulled me in further, like I needed to read to get to safety. How wonderful when a novel encapsulates you in such a way.

I didn’t want the book to end, but what an ending it was. I am still thinking about it, but I can’t explain why - no spoilers here!

After, I read Feeney’s inspiration behind the book and was fascinated and would love to know more. You can see how some of it came from her own experiences and what a great way to channel these.

Thank you for my ARC of Beautiful Ugly - I would particularly like to thank Chloe (from Pan Macmillan) and NetGalley.

p.s There’s also something REALLY clever in this novel about the Isle of Amberly that I didn’t even notice and I guarantee you won’t too…so YOU will just have to READ THIS BOOK to see what I mean 😊

p.p.s I haven’t ever put a p.s or a p.p.s in a review before but this one NEEDS these to ensure the p.s addition sticks in your mind.

I usually enjoy Alice Feeney's books but this one didn't work for me. I felt that this suffered from a slow pace along with that common Bane of so many recent thrillers, the reveal was so ott that it sort of spoiled the entire book for me. Although tbh, i had started losing interest post the halfway mark. I did enjoy the setting though.

This is an odd one for me. I love Alice Feeney and have read every one of her books. This didn't red like a Feeney thriller. It was quite dull, and although it had good scope for a mystery it lacked everything I love about Feeney's work. Usually she writes such challenging, clever stories with a really unique voice and writing style, but this could've been written by anyone. I would've DNF'd, but I stuck with it because I like the author so much.

This was a fairly challenging thriller as it was fairly bleak and in honesty it was only the last 5-10% that really grabbed me due to the stunning twist. Set on a remote Scottish island and featuring author Grady this is an increasingly claustrophobic read as he tries to uncover the mystery of his missing wife whist unfolding the secrets of an island he just cannot find a way of leaving. The setting is incredibly creepy with some very strange and unlikeable characters. Grady himself is quite a negative character but I did feel for his predicament and increasing desire to escape. The story is actually pulled together very well with reasons for everything gradually being revealed, the twist really is excellent but the ending is still uncomfortable. This is a bit more of a kind of survival type thriller than I’d anticipated and I think that impacted my enjoyment however the plotting was great and the concept spine chilling. 7/10

2.5
It’s pretty much impossible to talk about this book without spoilers so I've taken them out of my NetGalley review. As an evidence-based reviewer, it’s important to me that I give examples around my critical feedback so if you'd like to see the spoiler-y parts, please click my supporting links where it's all painstakingly tagged.

What worked for me:
👍 The cover is stunning. While I’ve read one of Alice Feeney’s books before (His and Hers), what really drew me in was the cover design: the pastel rainbow font, random backward letters, the picture of a remote island in slightly choppy water, and a small tear down the middle with ‘read me’ written inside. This cover is magnifque!
👍 Our story is set on a remote, ficticious Scottish island, Amberley, and the sense of place is artful. I could feel the claustrophobia of the closed community, the isolation on an island without communication infrastructure, and the sense that the nature and weather on Amberley could kill ya if it wanted to. The little illustrated map helped bring the island to life too! (Although, the idea of huge Sequoia trees growing in the Outer Hebrides sounds implausible. I mean, Shetland doesn’t even have trees because of the Atlantic winds. There are Redwoods in Scotland, though!)
👍 A Spooky undercurrent, some horror-esque imagery, and the suggestion of the supernatural heightened the atmosphere and slightly magical sense of place further.
👍 I enjoyed Abby’s women-focused news articles and how passionate she was about bringing exposing systemic misogyny and seeking justice for women through her investigative journalism.
👍 Columbo, the happy black lab!
👍 (something I'm genuinely gutted I can't talk about here because of spoilers!)

What I wasn’t so keen on:
👎 Our characters were objectively awful. When I’m reading, I enjoy having someone to root for and cheer along but both Grady and Abby were unlikeable in their own way. I pretty much hated Grady from go: he’s whiny, entitled, jealous, and emotionally manipulative. Abby was easier to root for, but she started making really questionable choices and she lost me completely by the end too.
👎 Kitty was an interesting character but <spoilers removed>
👎 The ending didn't work for me at all.
👎 Pacing issues: The book is slow to start and we spend a lot of time in Grady’s head with his whiny and repetitive thoughts. The book picks up, but I did grow weary of the whole ‘woe is me’ ToRtUrEd WrItEr stuff really quickly.

🐶 Is the dog okay? Yes!

Folks new to thrillers, readers who enjoy domestic drama, or people who enjoy Feeney's previous works may enjoy this more than I did.

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley and I'm sad this one missed the mark for me. Thank you, Pan Macmillan.