Beautiful Ugly: A Novel
3.9 | 41,057 ratings
Price: 12.99
Last update: 03-19-2026
Product details
- ASIN : B0D12ST77F
- Publisher : Flatiron Books
- Accessibility :
- Publication date : January 14, 2025
- Language : English
- File size : 5.9 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 309 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250337795
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank:#46 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Marriage & Divorce Fiction
- Family Life Fiction (Books)
- Domestic Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:3.93.9 out of 5 stars(32,530)
Top reviews from the United States
- T. SparksA thoroughly entertaining Alice Feeney thriller, full of her trademark twists and quirky characters.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. - Squirrels Like NutsA thriller that leans into the idea that love and obsession often share the same shadowsLike much of Feeney’s work, the novel thrives on atmosphere, unreliable perspectives, and the slow unspooling of secrets that refuse to stay buried.
The story centers on a marriage marked by devotion, resentment, and long-held silences. Feeney excels at exploring the private ugliness that can exist beneath a polished exterior, particularly within intimate relationships.
The characters are flawed in ways that feel intentionally uncomfortable and sometimes difficult to like, but always compelling to watch. This emotional messiness is one of the book’s strengths; it keeps you questioning motivations and loyalties right up until the end.
Feeney’s writing is sharp and economical, with short chapters that make the book hard to put down. The pacing is deliberate rather than frantic, creating a creeping sense of dread instead of relying on nonstop twists. When the revelations do arrive, they feel earned, even when they are disturbing.
If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers who enjoy being misled and then forced to reconsider everything they thought they knew, you will find a lot to appreciate here. - shopper in VABe ready for lots of twists and turns....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!