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A review by jenna_x_w
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This is my first book by this author, and I gather she is famous for her plot twists. I would have preferred if, for me, the unexpected turn of events was NOT my abruptly despising the book and having its rating-in-mental-progress plummet from a 3/4 to a 1/2 when I was nearly finished with it!
I wasn’t blown away by this book, by any means, for the first 2/3rds or 3/4ths of it, but it was a page-turner and it was fine. The main characters of Abby and Grady seemed very flat, but I enjoyed the Hebridean scenery and atmosphere, the eccentric villagers, and of course, Columbo the dog. And then!… it was just utter foolishness upon foolishness and a jumble of other literary crimes and pet peeves.
The “Big Twist” especially (like the whole book hinges on one short, unearned paragraph that changes everything?) was absolute buffoonery, sheer Tomfoolery as far as I was concerned. I did not think the groundwork and character development had been laid to believably pull that off, to say the least. And it was all just…kind of dumb? From that point on to the end, everything kind of starts to unravel if you even look at it twice. Like a SHEIN kilt!
It’s really unusual for me to rate a book a one- or two-star read, since if I’m not liking a book, I usually spot this hazard coming early on, abandon ship, and do not give it a rating. It takes a very rare and special book - rare and special NOT in a good way - to completely sink the ship when it’s nearly to port!
I’m actually a little irritated and even mad that I spent time on this one. I would have preferred The Adventures of Columbo in the Hebrides, to be honest.
I wasn’t blown away by this book, by any means, for the first 2/3rds or 3/4ths of it, but it was a page-turner and it was fine. The main characters of Abby and Grady seemed very flat, but I enjoyed the Hebridean scenery and atmosphere, the eccentric villagers, and of course, Columbo the dog. And then!… it was just utter foolishness upon foolishness and a jumble of other literary crimes and pet peeves.
The “Big Twist” especially (like the whole book hinges on one short, unearned paragraph that changes everything?) was absolute buffoonery, sheer Tomfoolery as far as I was concerned. I did not think the groundwork and character development had been laid to believably pull that off, to say the least. And it was all just…kind of dumb? From that point on to the end, everything kind of starts to unravel if you even look at it twice. Like a SHEIN kilt!
It’s really unusual for me to rate a book a one- or two-star read, since if I’m not liking a book, I usually spot this hazard coming early on, abandon ship, and do not give it a rating. It takes a very rare and special book - rare and special NOT in a good way - to completely sink the ship when it’s nearly to port!
I’m actually a little irritated and even mad that I spent time on this one. I would have preferred The Adventures of Columbo in the Hebrides, to be honest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault