Title: Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Publication: January 14, 2025
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pages: 320
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SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
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.
Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
My first impression of this book upon reading the synopsis was intrigue. What an interesting and unique storyline? I was very excited to read this book and I love stories in Scotland!
The story follows Grady on his journey to getting over a slump after his wife goes missing, and he hits a writing slump. His agent sends him off to a tiny cabin on an island in Scotland to try and finish a book. Right away, I was suspicious of the islanders. Every single one of them was a bit weird and I found some of th behaviors odd. I knew right away something was up.
As the story progressed, I was even more confused as to what was going on. Feeney did a good job of making me guess, but unfortunately, not always in a good way. Yes, I wanted to know what was actually happening, but this was a bit too weird for me. I like a bit of intrigue, but I don’t like being downright confused when reading.
With that said, Feeney wrote a very unique story that wrapped up in quite an interesting way and one that I did not see coming. This was the winning moment for this book, because it’s hard to surprise me. The end had not one, but a few twists that really left your jaw on the floor and I enjoyed the ending.
While this may not have been my favorite book, I really did enjoy the journey and the uniqueness of it. I would definitely check out future books by Alice Feeney to see what other surprises she can throw at me. Having listened to the audiobook of this, the narrator was good and the reading was not any part of the things I didn’t like. It was a catching voice and I’d definitely enjoy listening to them again.
