When your wife suddenly disappears and you can no longer function as a writer.
Sent to a remote Scottish island to try and write again by his agent.
Caught up in the reasons why his wife disappeared has robbed him of sleep and creativity.
Rewriting an undiscovered manuscript and sending it off as his own work, opens more secrets and lies.
Is there any way out?

Wife disappears, husband is broken, gets writer's block, goes to island to get over it - and then all isn't as it seems.

The first part of the thriller works as a thriller should - I turned those pages, ignored the washing machine and was pulled in. Then things start getting a bit fishy, and it wasn't just my neglected washing machine load. The twists and turns are there as expected but once the curtain is pulled away I felt thoroughly cheated. Trying to explain why I felt so conned without spoiling the story is difficult - so suffice to say I felt that one of the major plot devices is pretty basic.

Having let it sit for a few days my annoyance has increased - why on earth would a group of self sufficient men haters insist on getting a male author to the island? There are successful women authors around and they could have all got along nicely. Also what if the baby had been a boy? Anyway I must move onto another boo0k and stop worrying!

I really enjoyed this book by Alice Feeney. I've read a couple of her books before and I'll definitely be reading more from her in the future.

What stands out in this novel is the amazing setting. The eerie, remote island is perfect. It is remote enough that Grady is cut off from the mainland and anything could be happening in the woods surrounding the cabin he is staying in. But the island is small enough that he continually runs into the odd characters of the island. It leaves you continually off balance.

Feeney struck a great balance with the character of Grady. He is a sympathetic character but an unreliable narrator. This balance worked perfectly for me, leaving me continually unsure about him.

The plot was excellent. Prologue aside, the start of the book was a little slow which is why it went down to 4 stars for me. However, I was gripped to the book just to find out what was going on. I read the second half of the book in one sitting because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen.

This book is full of plot twists and I didn't guess any of them. Feeney is definitely the queen of plot twists.

I would highly recommend this book to thriller fans. It is an intriguing and gripping read. This book will be released on 30th January 2025 so make sure you check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alice Feeney, and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

i have gusped many gasps but this gasp was mega

Alice Feeney is honestly the only thriller writer I will automatically read, no matter what, and this book is the perfect example of why. Loved the characters, loved the ending, so good.

When best-selling author, Grady Green's wife disappears in strange circumstances he is thrown into despair and debt. Tormented by grief and unable to write, he moves to an isolated writing retreat on a remote Scottish island, at the suggestion of his agent.

Now, we all know that spending time on an island with no mobile phone signal and no working landlines is bound to be a bad idea, especially as the ferry to the mainland has an erratic timetable, and the woman running the post office probably reads all the mail. Though the few islanders he meets are friendly enough, he suspects there's something odd about them. And when clippings of newspaper articles, written by his missing wife, start appearing in the cabin, he knows they have to have come from one of them.

He sees his wife everywhere but it's never her. Other peculiar occurrences make him doubt his sanity too but Grady is the first to admit to an over-fondness for the whisky. The fact that the previous writer to occupy the cabin killed himself there, doesn't bother him, though, as he doesn't believe in ghosts.

This is a compelling novel and the short chapters lend themselves to the desire to read 'just one more' and 'just one more'. I did develop a disinclination to read it when alone though, as creepy isn't really my preferred style. If it's yours, though, this will do the job wonderfully.

The best, gripping opening chapter I have read all year - and it kept me hooked from there. Fantastic, twisty thriller that kept me turning the pages long after I wanted to go to bed.

I loved this book! It really stood out for me as an original idea in a sea of average thrillers I have been reading. I was really caught up in Island life and wondered what on earth was going on. It was all wrapped up brilliantly and was very dark at times! The conclusion caught me totally off guard!
Really well written, I would definitely recommend this.

Unbelievably clever and ridiculously gripping!

Perfect for those who enjoy:
- Psychological thrillers
- Missing person fiction
- The perfect ending
- Intense twisty books

With thanks to Panmacmillan and Netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

As you expect with Alice Feeney, Beautiful Ugly is instantly addictive with twists I didn't see coming. There's always something so immersive about Feeney's writing, I don't know how she does it. I think this is my favourite of her's yet. Best to dive in knowing as little as possible for maximum enjoyment

Rating: 4.5/5

Over the past few years Alice Feeney has become one of my favourite writers. She not only manages produce standalone novels that are markedly different from one another, but she also has an almost magical way of delivering a story that is not always the one I had anticipated reading at the outset. However, that is no bad thing as I always enjoy the voyage of discovery and "Beautiful Ugly" is no exception.

There are some echoes of Stephen King's "The Shining" in the premise, with Grady, an author struggling to rediscover his writing mojo, taking himself off to a remote location in search of solitude and inspiration, but although "Beautiful Ugly" contains a leitmotif of otherworldliness that wouldn't be out of place in a Stephen King book, this is certainly no facsimile.

The remote backdrop of the Scottish island of Amberly is described in a wonderfully evocative fashion that really helps to transport the reader into that setting. The cast of characters is drawn in an equally impressive manner, so that each one steps out from the page. As ever in Alice Feeney's novels, the plot is well-crafted and takes unexpected turns, which will almost certainly blindside most of the audience, but without cheating the reader - the clues are there, they simply need to be picked up on. Another great read from Alice Feeney and I am already looking forward to the next one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

“You can only rearrange the furniture of your life a number of times before things look the same as they did.”

Grady Green gets the best news - his latest book just made the NY Times bestseller list! However, his reverie is cut short when, on the phone to his wife, Abby, she disappears.

A year later Grady is still grief stricken; he’s struggling to sleep, let alone write. His life is falling apart. He’s handed a lifeline when his agent offers the use of a cabin on the beautiful island of Amberley, Scotland.

But once there, Grady gets the impression not everything is as idyllic as it first appeared. That can’t be his wife he keeps catching glimpses of .. can it?

I really enjoyed this one - another I devoured in a single day. I thought the pace was perfect, balancing slow-building tension with bursts of high-stakes revelations. The slow unraveling of Grady’s mental state parallels the escalating suspense, culminating in a shocking, yet satisfying, climax that I did not see coming.

Feeney excels in creating complex, unreliable narrators, and Grady is no exception. His grief over Abby’s disappearance is present on every page. Abby, though physically absent for much of the story, is brought to life through flashbacks that explore the cracks in her seemingly perfect marriage. The inhabitants of Amberly are equally compelling - layered with secrets that enhance the novel’s creeping sense of unease. I got real Wicker Man vibes at times!

I’m again intrigued by Feeney’s use of Americanisms (something I first noticed in Good Bad Girl) - favorite, realize, fall etc.

It’s a dark, twisty, and beautifully written psychological thriller that kept me enthralled until the final pages. Prepare to be captivated - and to question everything you think you know.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan for the advance copy. Beautiful Ugly is out January 30th (UK)

Oh Alice, you take me through the wringer every time. Beautiful Ugly felt like a carnival hall of mirrors, I didn't know what was real, what was imagined, or which way was up! I loved the setting of remote Scottish island and the subtle creepiness that I decided EVERYONE had.

The story gave me Wicker Man vibes, and at one point I had to put the book down and say (aloud to my husband who didn't have a clue) "Noo, that didn't just happen"!

I'm writing this review after lack of sleep as I was up way after my bedtime finishing it last night. Thank you for a thrilling, trippy escapade!

I was excited to hear about this latest Alice Feeney book. I have read her books in the past and enjoyed them, but I'm afraid I found this not one of her best. Grady Green is an author, and has just heard some exciting news. He calls his wife as she is driving, on her way home. As she is speaking to him, he hears her slam on her brakes, the car door opens, her footsteps walk away, and then nothing. He goes out and finds the car, but his wife is missing.
One year later Grady is still grieving, unable to sleep, eat properly or write. His publisher recommends a cabin where he can stay to write in peace. It is on a remote Scottish island where no one will bother him. He agrees to go, he will try anything to get his life back, While on the island, he sees a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
I didn't find the characters in the book particularly likeable, they all seemed selfish and only concerned with what they wanted. There was a twist at the end of the book, but I had guessed it before I got there. A little disappointing.

When author Grady’s wife Abby goes missing he’s distraught. She was talking to him on the phone one minute and then she was gone. One year later, Grady is lost without Abby and his publicist sends him to a remote island to write.
On the Isle of Amberley strange things start to happen and Grady is more confused than when he went. This is a well written book from Alice Feeney that twists and turns. I was left with questions hence the four stars not five.

This book was promising and led me into it's depths. Good writing, interesting characters. However, the ending seemed rushed and not very believable and thee were elements that I felt didn't add up, which spoilt the end of the book for me.

Thank you so, so much to Netgalley, Alice Feeney, and her publishers for the ARC. Even though I had issues with the format on my reader, I finally managed to read it on my computer and I have really enjoyed it.

Even though at first it might seem to be a slow-paced one, this thriller gets your attention the more Grady, the protagonist, immerses himself in the Isle of Amberly. I love the way Feeney never misses out on keeping the reader hooked up to her stories and this one is not an exception, for there are too many surprises along the road.

I have to admit that I hadn’t read a book by Alice Feeney before. Of course, I’ve seen lots of her books in bookstores, on Goodreads, on social media, etc., etc. but somehow, I was never attracted to the blurb enough to pick one up. That’s a shame because I really liked Beautiful Ugly.

I always love authors who throw around snippets and make me feel lost while reading until I start connecting the dots. Alice Feeney’s writing has a certain kind of eeriness in it, and I read the story breathlessly—some twists I didn’t see coming, and my heart jumped in my throat once in a while.

After reading this book, I’ll probably be tempted to buy one of Alice’s books whenever I see one of her books in a store. I love it when an author makes me feel like that!

It's been years since I read an Alice Feeney book because the last one I read-- I Know Who You Are --was so bad that it really put me off. But she's gained an impressive fan base since then; enough to make me want to try another. So here we are.

And I can now feel confident in my decision to avoid the author's books. Beautiful Ugly is simply one of those types of thrillers I never like and, for some reason, are extremely popular. The Freida Mcfadden-type thrillers where weak characters, loose plotting, everything is built around a wacky twist that of course you didn’t see coming because it’s so ludicrous.

We open Beautiful Ugly to struggling author Grady detailing his wife's disappearance a year ago. While on the phone to him, she saw a woman lying by the side of the road, got out to help her, and hasn't been seen since. Her car was found abandoned at the roadside.

Now, Grady is tortured by what happened to her. He can't sleep. Can't write. When his agent offers him a unique opportunity-- to live in the remote writing cabin of a much-loved and deceased author --even moving to a strange little island seems worth it if he can rescue his career.

The premise is interesting and there is enough in the first half that is compelling and eerie to make me give this two stars instead of just one. But there is not a single character worth caring about and, in fact, I cared less about both Grady and Abby the more I read about them. Plus, the further I got into the book, the more the implausibility mounted.

Everything is built up around the twist, and the truth is that I just couldn't believe in it. Part of the explanation of events made me laugh out loud because it was so bizarre and silly. Many characters behaved in a way that didn't make sense. And when we got to the whole island backstory, my god... what a convoluted mess.

I like a good twist as much as anyone, but it is not enough, for me, for it to be shocking. It also has to be somewhat believable.

A dark pacy thriller with marriage issues, isolation and seclusion. Grady is a best selling novelist whose wife dissappears and as he begins writing books again he is after a secluded location for him and his dog. He moves to a island but it holds more secrets than Grady could ever imagine. Fast paced, breathtakingly atmospheric.

I’ve only read one novel by Alice Feeney so far which I really enjoyed but wasn’t sure what to make of the ending. Thus I was curious to see what I would think of this novel. It’s very clear to me that she can write atmosphere so well. Her descriptions are great and I could picture everything clearly in my head. The atmosphere here is eery and Alice Feeney writes plot twists so well. It took some time until the plot really got going but I enjoyed the journey and will read more by the author in the future.