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(as of Apr 07, 2025 05:41:56 UTC – Details)
B0D12ST77F,
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“Her best book yet.” —Harlan Coben
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…
, 4,
Reviewer: T. Sparks
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A thoroughly entertaining Alice Feeney thriller, full of her trademark twists and quirky characters.
Review: Alice Feeney has written another twisty story with unreliable characters and a very cool set-up, and although it’s not my favorite of her books, it was a lot of fun.We follow writer Grady Green, who, when the story opens, is waiting anxiously by the phone for a call from his agent to hear if his latest book has become a New York Times bestseller. Grady’s wife Abby is on her way home, and Grady is a little peeved that she isn’t standing by his side. He wants her to be there when the call about his book comes in. He calls Abby to find out where she is, only to hear her slam on the brakes while they’re talking. Abby says there’s a woman lying in the road and she’s going to stop to help.But that’s the last that Grady hears from his wife, because after she gets out of the car, he never sees her again. What happened to Abby? A year later, Grady is still mourning her loss and asking questions.Depressed and unable to write or sleep, Grady’s agent Kitty suggests he take a break and stay in a small cabin she owns in Scotland, located on a remote island called the Isle of Amberly. With no cell service and very limited access to the mainland, it might be just the thing he needs to jump start his next book.But when he arrives, he notices things are a bit…strange. Only twenty-five people live on the island, and tourists are only allowed to visit a few months a year. There’s no cell service or even land lines, and all the locals carry walkie-talkies around with them. When Grady moves into the cabin, he has the feeling that someone is watching him, and he’s certain that someone has been inside the cabin and moved things around. The ferry that services the island is the only way on and off, and it’s schedule is spotty at best. And when he thinks he sees his missing wife Abby, he realizes that something odd is going on.Feeney sets up some intriguing mysteries right off the bat. First, there’s the mystery of what happened to Abby. Did she leave Grady and stage a dramatic disappearance? Was she kidnapped or murdered? No one found a body, so her fate is unknown. Then there’s the mystery of the Isle of Amberly. Even though Kitty has paved the way for him, and even though the locals seem to be friendly, Grady does not really feel welcome. At first he enjoys the quiet and change of pace, but little by little Amberly takes on a sinister air. Is he just paranoid, or is something going on behind the scenes? Feeney does a great job of hooking the reader with lots of little events that all add up to a whole lot of weirdness, and I flew through the pages to find out what was really going on. There’s almost a Twilight Zone vibe to the scenes that take place on the island, which I loved.While most of the story is told from Grady’s first person point of view, we also get chapters from Abby, which fill in some blanks and also give the story a “he said, she said” dynamic. Abby’s narrative turns everything Grady has told us on its head, and instead of explaining the mystery, it only makes things more confusing. I have to say that Abby comes across as much more sympathetic than Grady, who comes across as a whiny, entitled author who gets expects to get everything he wants.Feeney is known for her epic twists, and she doesn’t disappoint here—although the twists this time were the reason the story didn’t completely work for me. Instead of blowing me away with their revelations, I was mostly confused. Of course I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers, but going back over the details of the story only created more questions for me. One twist in particular involving what happened to Abby make NO sense and left me puzzled rather than shocked.Still, there’s a lot of entertainment value here, which is why I’m giving Beautiful Ugly four stars, despite some of the unsatisfying twists. This is one of those stories that makes you want to reread it to spot the clues you missed the first time.
Reviewer: mnmloveli
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: BRAVO ! GREAT read !
Review: ‘25 – 5 STARSDESCRIPTION : 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.REVIEW :Previous books by this author were Good Bad Girl (‘23 – 3 Stars), Daisy Darker (‘22 – 5 Stars), Rock Paper Scissors (‘21 – 5 Stars) and His & Hers (‘20), I Know Who You Are (‘19) and Sometimes I Lie (‘18) which all received 4 Stars.Lots of very mixed reviews so I read the sample. Sample didn’t thrill me but since I usually love this author I decided to give it a shot.Sale $11.99 (14.99 -3.00 Kindle Rewards).At 30% I like the authors writing like always. So far a slow mystery but it has enough intrigue to keep me reading. The eeriness of the island and the strange happenings really kept me entertained and guessing. Lots of twists, especially in the last 20-30%, which I definitely did not see coming. I had some bad feelings about where this story ended-up going, but since I was shocked & unprepared, I say BRAVO to the author! Even though this book was a little slow at the beginning, I went with 5-stars because of the build-up of tension that kept me reading-on until late in the night. Well done Alice Feeney !
Reviewer: shopper in VA
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Be ready for lots of twists and turns….
Review: Enjoyed the story in Beautiful Ugly except for the seemingly constant reminders by the author to the reader that Grady, our main protagonist, suffers with insomnia — reiterating over and over the miseries, both physical and mental, an insomniac endures. He also drinks too much (which doesn’t help insomnia!) and is insecure, sees himself as a failed writer, etc., etc. Sigh. There are a lot of twists in this tale that surprised me. Said aloud more than once: ‘Well, I didn’t see THAT coming’ which made the book endurable for this reader. The writing became even more repetitious; it was as if the author couldn’t figure out how to end the story. In the end things seemed rushed. A good read all told but could have been better. ADDENDUM: Now that I’ve read the book’s ending I have to add this note. The ending makes no sense. I re-read the last 2 or 3 chapters thinking I missed something but still do not get the ending of the tale. I see, too, that others agree. What in the world happened to Grady? It is a mystery to me. If anyone figures it out, please let the rest of us know. This is the first and last Alice Feeney book for me!
Reviewer: Jacob Collins
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney is one of the most imaginative crime thrillers I’ve read recently. We meet author, Grady Green, who is waiting to hear from his American publishers to find out if his book has made it onto the New York Times bestseller list. He is annoyed his wife, Abby, isn’t here with him right at this moment; she calls him and insists she is on her way, but whilst he is on the phone to her, she stops to help someone, who appears to have fallen over in the road. But this is the last time Grady hears from Abby, the line goes dead and Abby vanishes into the night. Fast forward a year later, Grady is still reeling from the disappearance of his wife. He’s hardly written since she went missing, and so his literary agent, who is also Abby’s godmother, offers him a cabin on a Scottish island, gifted to her by a client in his will, who died recently. Grady accepts the offer, but when he arrives on the island, he soon starts to realise that something is very wrong here.This was so cleverly crafted. I thought Grady’s personality and particularly his literary agent’s really leapt off the page. I had mixed feelings about Grady in the opening pages of the book. He came across as slightly controlling, but when his wife disappears, it is clear to see how much he loves her and how much he is desperate to find her. The island setting is done really well and right from the moment Grady arrives it feels unsettling, especially when he is informed that tourists are banned from bringing cars onto the island. There is only a very small population, no more than twenty five people.I loved the atmosphere Alice Feeney created on the island, which is what made this island feel so real, even though Alice Feeney has created it. There is a very spooky atmosphere here, particularly with the legends and myths Grady hears about the island from the locals, and as he comes to understand the history of the island. The tension picks up the longer Grady stayed there and it made me feel as though he was trapped and I wanted him to escape and get back to the mainland.There is a brilliant twist to this book which completely floored me, but Alice Feeney cleverly built up to this moment. I thought it was very well done and it made for a very satisfactory ending. If you’re looking for a compelling thriller, with a unique setting then I highly recommend Beautiful Ugly. I think it’s Alice Feeney’s best book to date and now I can’t wait to read what she writes next.
Reviewer: Laurence Boquet
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This one will stay with me for a LONG time…the atmosphere is perfectly creepy and it was just an amazing ride, really.
Reviewer: Danielle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Absolutely loved this book !! Her best book that I have read so far!! Suspenseful, unpredictable. I couldn’t put it down. Such a talented author.
Reviewer: Cindy Roelvink
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Well damn. Finished it within 24 hours, what did I just read?!Alice Feeney really is the queen of plot twists in psychological thrillers because my god, this one was golden.Grady is a writer, married to Abby and living the good live with her and their dog columbo. He’s so focused on writing and releasing his books that he tends to forget a wife also needs attention. On the day his book is officially a new York bestseller, his wife Abby goes missing.A year later and still, no Abby, but also no new book.. Not even a new chapter has emerged. Grady has lost everything. He lives in a seedy hotel, clothes that have seen better days when he needs to visit his publisher Kitty. He is scared of being let go, but I fact gets an opportunity of a lifetime. Live in a cottage for 3 months on a secluded island with only 25 residents? Peace and quiet?! Yes please! 3 months to finish a book. Can he do it? He doubts it a little. With his wife still missing, not knowing what happened to her.. The lack of sleep.. He just can’t think straight.When on the island, the weirdest things keep happening.. Why is he seeing his wife everywhere? But when really searching, he can’t find her. Grady starts thinking he is actually losing his mind. But is he?
Reviewer: A. Killick
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: By the time you finish this book, you’ll realise how clever Alice Feeney is. It is such a unique and fascinating book. Just as the mist descends in the story at times, the same thing happens for the reader until there is soon a little more light and some glimpses of a deeper understanding.The location with its gorgeous map in the front helps the reader picture situations and locations so much better.I guess I’m knocking. point off because it feels a bit repetitive at times and I literally felt woozy as the protagonist seemed to encounter bewildering circumstances.
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