Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

12 reviews

law_8290's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I give this more than 5 stars. This may be my favorite thriller I have read to date now. This was my first Feeney book but it won't be my last. I am very curious to read her backlist now. The twists in this book, IMO, were NOT predictable. As soon as I thought I had things figured out, she took me on a whole different path which then veered off into yet another. There was even a twist you had to go back through to find. Brilliant 👏. The atmosphere in this book made it even better and fit the plot perfectly and gavebit major spooky vibes. My favorite book of 2025 so far.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

disguisedposer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

trisha_meseck's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

She had me at small island with dark secrets. An author with a missing wife needing to write a new book to get himself back on his feet. The way the story progresses with so many twists and turns had me hooked. That ending! I feel like I can’t write anything without giving any spoilers. Just read it! You will not be disappointed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

mlo_reads's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

Non-spoiler synopsis:
Man is writer. Man’s wife disappears. Man cannot write. Man gets sent away to remote island to finally write again. Mysterious things happen. “Is this my wife?” man says at least 10 or 20 times while on the island. Maybe!

Review:
Honestly, I’ll keep this one short – did not love it. I felt like I knew every twist and turn before it was about to happen. Maybe it would be shocking if you turned your brain off after the first chapter while you read the middle of the book up until the last 20%. Honestly, the thing that shocked me most was the random loud ass noises in the audiobook!

Please read Beautiful Ugly if you love women, hate men, and want to be gaslit, but read it with the expectation that the twist probably isn’t as big as you think it might be; it published on January 14, 2025 and is OUT NOW!! And if you do, I’m curious to hear what you think of it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, and Alcohol

lauren_lovestoread's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

uranaishi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

jmariejones's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was my first read by Alice Feeney & I enjoyed the entirety of this book. The hidden message at the end was fun, as I’ve never experienced one before. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.

• Non-linear timeline
• Multiple POV
• Broken marriage
• Unreliable narrator(s)

My personal questionable thoughts:
* I enjoyed hating the main character
* If I was single, I would live on Isle of Amberly

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide and Murder

mosreads's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

novellearts's review

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not my favorite. I don’t think all of the components of this book were necessary and they felt to me as though it clouded the storyline. 

The big reveal was not incredibly enticing to me either. This story felt like it was lacking something to really bring it all together but I’m not sure what exactly that was.

I will say that I enjoyed the little Easter egg that Feeney put in with the chapters. (This will make sense when you get to the end of the book). I also appreciated the sense of community between women in this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

buckeyelynes's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol