Title: Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publish Date: January 14, 2025

Excerpt:

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 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.

My Thoughts:

I was really excited for this book! I love a good twisty, mystery. The audiobook is narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton, and I thought they both did a fantastic job narrating. Despite being a tad slow paced, Thorin, oops! I meant Richard :), and Tuppence really brought it to life along with the various sound effects. I always enjoy when there are multiple narrators.  

Grady is an author who's wife mysteriously goes missing one evening on her way home while she's on the phone with Grady. A year later he is still haunted by her disappearance. He's grief stricken, can't write, and he's losing everything. His agent offers him the use of a secluded cabin on a small Scottish Island, and he accepts in the hopes that he will be able to write again.

Once on the island he begins seeing glimpses of his wife, hearing her voice, and noticing that the locals all seem a bit strange. He starts to think he may be losing his mind. As I said, I love good twists, but with this book, I felt lied to, in a sense. I can't say much without getting into spoilery territory, but it all seemed a bit far fetched.

I like Feeney's writing style, and the audiobook was very well done, but that ending! I'm still scratching my head over it. 


Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐