Book Review - Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Title: Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Genre: Thriller/ Mystery
Published: 2025
 
Description: 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 edge cliff the headlights are on, the car 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: I was very excited to read Alice Feeney’s newest book. I was hoping that “Beautiful Ugly” was more like the books she wrote that introduced me to her. “His & Hers” and “Rock Paper Scissors” were those books and are both all-time favorite thrillers. Unfortunately, her new release didn’t meet that level.
 
Grady is an author, who is still grieving, a year after his wife Abby went missing. While he was on the phone with her, she went off the grid and no one has seen her since. It affects Grady’s life, but also his work. After his New York Times best seller, he has not written anything. His agent sends him to a cottage on a small Scottish island, so he has some peace and quiet and he can finds new inspiration. Grady believes this to be a good idea, but as soon as he sets foot on the island, strange things start to happen.
 
First of all, I love the setting. A small island setting, mysterious people, an unsolved mystery. That first chapter sucked me in. And at the start, I was really invested in the story. But towards the middle of the book, it started to feel repetitive and a  little dull. It was a slow book.
 
It did pick up eventually and I got back into it again. But then there was the twist. And this twist is what will make or break this book for you. It was a definite no for me. Because it made absolutely no sense. And looking back at that first chapter, that had me hooked right away, I feel cheated. There are so many issues and some of the actions of the characters just didn’t make sense either. Those final sentences of the book were really good though, but not enough to save it.
 
Rating: 2,5/ 5