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A review by _onemorechapter_
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
💭A Slow Burn with Twists That Take Their Sweet Time!
Grady Green is a man on the edge—literally and figuratively. His wife, Abby, vanished without a trace after a phone call that left him hearing the screech of brakes and... silence. A year later, he's still grieving, still blocked (writer problems), and still searching for answers. So, he packs up his faithful dog, Colombo, and heads to a remote Scottish island to escape his personal purgatory. Except the island isn’t quite the escape he hoped for. Weird locals, creepy vibes, and then—bam—he sees her. Or does he?
This one’s got everything you’d expect from an Alice Feeney novel: unreliable narrators, eerie settings, and twisty twists that mess with your head. The island itself feels alive, a locked-room mystery in open air, with no Wi-Fi, a barely-there ferry, and just enough claustrophobic tension to make you question everything (and everyone).
The first half had me HOOKED. Abby’s therapy sessions offered juicy glimpses into her fractured marriage and hinted at a deeper tension beneath Grady’s rose-tinted memories. Feeney is a master at atmosphere, and the Scottish setting absolutely delivers—chilling, foggy, and brimming with foreboding. But the pacing? Woof. The middle dragged, with Grady’s constant spiral into confusion becoming repetitive and a little frustrating. By the time the twists started dropping like plot grenades, I was both relieved and slightly exhausted.
Speaking of twists, they’re a mixed bag. Some hit hard, others felt predictable or stretched too far into the unbelievable. The final twist, while clever, didn’t blow my mind—it felt more like a gentle nudge than a punch to the gut. Also, Abby’s motivations? Confusing. Her character was an enigma, and not always in a good way. I wanted more of her perspective because, honestly, her story seemed more intriguing than Grady’s pity party.
Now, let’s talk vibes. This isn’t a heart-pounding thriller that’ll leave you breathless. Instead, it’s a slow-burn mystery that takes its sweet time building tension. The locked-room (or locked-island) setup is well done, but the lack of urgency makes it feel more atmospheric than nail-biting. Think broody introspection meets Gothic suspense.
Redeeming factors? Colombo, the dog, stays safe throughout (thank you, Alice Feeney). And that prologue? Absolute fire. I also loved the visceral descriptions of the island—it’s like the setting was its own character, haunting and full of secrets.
Overall, it’s a solid *meh-but-entertaining* read. 3.25 stars for the vibes, the twists, and the dog.
Would you cozy up to this small-town island mystery, or is a fast-paced thriller more your vibe? Drop your thoughts below! 🖤📚
𝐏.𝐒 If you’re planning to visit a remote Scottish island anytime soon, maybe don’t bring your emotional baggage — or a typewriter.
Just saying😉
🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐.25
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆:Thriller, Suspense, Psychological thriller, Domestic Fiction
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: If you love Feeney’s knack for unreliable narrators and twisty endings, go for it. Just don’t expect the pulse-pounding brilliance of *Rock Paper Scissors*. *Beautiful Ugly* is more of a quiet, moody read with a big focus on atmosphere and a slower payoff.
🔸 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
“Sometimes I think we are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.”
“I keep my thoughts to myself because silence cannot be misquoted.”
“Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.”
“Life is beautiful and life is ugly and we have to learn
To live with both sides of the same coin
and see the light in the darkness.
The world is Beautiful ugly,
relationships are Beautiful ugly,
and life is Beautiful ugly.”
“Men still rule this world and as a result the world is broken. Men still hold most positions of power, men control governments, men control the media, and it is always men who start wars. Men have tricked women into thinking they see us as equals, but real equality for all woman everywhere, still feels like little more than a pipe dream. The women on this island have had enough.”
“My books have always been a place to hide myself inside myself when the real world gets too loud.”
“People rarely know what they have until they lose it. They spend their lives searching for a better one, wanting more, needing more, blind to the fact that they already had it all. I think sometimes it’s only when something gets taken from a person that they appreciate what they had.”
“Success is often the result of a series of failures. Try to remember that. You never learn anything from success, but failure can teach you everything about a person. Especially yourself.”
“Sadness can consume a person if it is allowed to linger too long. It takes root and buries itself inside a person's soul, until every thought is too heavy, too painful to think.”
“When life blends itself into a question mark
You start looking for answers
And when you can’t find the right ones
You go looking for the wrong ones instead.”
“Marriage is made of a million beautiful and ugly moments stitched together into a shared tapestry of memories, all of which are viewed and remembered slightly differently, like two people staring at the same painting from opposite ends of a room.”
“It’s strange to think that this spectacular night sky is always above us, wherever we are. We’re all just too busy looking down to remember to look up.”
“Fear can make something beautiful appear ugly.”
“Guilt is such a sticky emotion; you can’t wash the damn thing off.”
“People say time is a great healer, but it only seems to hurt more the longer she is gone.”
Grady Green is a man on the edge—literally and figuratively. His wife, Abby, vanished without a trace after a phone call that left him hearing the screech of brakes and... silence. A year later, he's still grieving, still blocked (writer problems), and still searching for answers. So, he packs up his faithful dog, Colombo, and heads to a remote Scottish island to escape his personal purgatory. Except the island isn’t quite the escape he hoped for. Weird locals, creepy vibes, and then—bam—he sees her. Or does he?
This one’s got everything you’d expect from an Alice Feeney novel: unreliable narrators, eerie settings, and twisty twists that mess with your head. The island itself feels alive, a locked-room mystery in open air, with no Wi-Fi, a barely-there ferry, and just enough claustrophobic tension to make you question everything (and everyone).
The first half had me HOOKED. Abby’s therapy sessions offered juicy glimpses into her fractured marriage and hinted at a deeper tension beneath Grady’s rose-tinted memories. Feeney is a master at atmosphere, and the Scottish setting absolutely delivers—chilling, foggy, and brimming with foreboding. But the pacing? Woof. The middle dragged, with Grady’s constant spiral into confusion becoming repetitive and a little frustrating. By the time the twists started dropping like plot grenades, I was both relieved and slightly exhausted.
Speaking of twists, they’re a mixed bag. Some hit hard, others felt predictable or stretched too far into the unbelievable. The final twist, while clever, didn’t blow my mind—it felt more like a gentle nudge than a punch to the gut. Also, Abby’s motivations? Confusing. Her character was an enigma, and not always in a good way. I wanted more of her perspective because, honestly, her story seemed more intriguing than Grady’s pity party.
Now, let’s talk vibes. This isn’t a heart-pounding thriller that’ll leave you breathless. Instead, it’s a slow-burn mystery that takes its sweet time building tension. The locked-room (or locked-island) setup is well done, but the lack of urgency makes it feel more atmospheric than nail-biting. Think broody introspection meets Gothic suspense.
Redeeming factors? Colombo, the dog, stays safe throughout (thank you, Alice Feeney). And that prologue? Absolute fire. I also loved the visceral descriptions of the island—it’s like the setting was its own character, haunting and full of secrets.
Overall, it’s a solid *meh-but-entertaining* read. 3.25 stars for the vibes, the twists, and the dog.
Would you cozy up to this small-town island mystery, or is a fast-paced thriller more your vibe? Drop your thoughts below! 🖤📚
𝐏.𝐒 If you’re planning to visit a remote Scottish island anytime soon, maybe don’t bring your emotional baggage — or a typewriter.
Just saying😉
🔸𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐.25
🔸𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆:Thriller, Suspense, Psychological thriller, Domestic Fiction
🔸𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: If you love Feeney’s knack for unreliable narrators and twisty endings, go for it. Just don’t expect the pulse-pounding brilliance of *Rock Paper Scissors*. *Beautiful Ugly* is more of a quiet, moody read with a big focus on atmosphere and a slower payoff.
🔸 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
“Sometimes I think we are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.”
“I keep my thoughts to myself because silence cannot be misquoted.”
“Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.”
“Life is beautiful and life is ugly and we have to learn
To live with both sides of the same coin
and see the light in the darkness.
The world is Beautiful ugly,
relationships are Beautiful ugly,
and life is Beautiful ugly.”
“Men still rule this world and as a result the world is broken. Men still hold most positions of power, men control governments, men control the media, and it is always men who start wars. Men have tricked women into thinking they see us as equals, but real equality for all woman everywhere, still feels like little more than a pipe dream. The women on this island have had enough.”
“My books have always been a place to hide myself inside myself when the real world gets too loud.”
“People rarely know what they have until they lose it. They spend their lives searching for a better one, wanting more, needing more, blind to the fact that they already had it all. I think sometimes it’s only when something gets taken from a person that they appreciate what they had.”
“Success is often the result of a series of failures. Try to remember that. You never learn anything from success, but failure can teach you everything about a person. Especially yourself.”
“Sadness can consume a person if it is allowed to linger too long. It takes root and buries itself inside a person's soul, until every thought is too heavy, too painful to think.”
“When life blends itself into a question mark
You start looking for answers
And when you can’t find the right ones
You go looking for the wrong ones instead.”
“Marriage is made of a million beautiful and ugly moments stitched together into a shared tapestry of memories, all of which are viewed and remembered slightly differently, like two people staring at the same painting from opposite ends of a room.”
“It’s strange to think that this spectacular night sky is always above us, wherever we are. We’re all just too busy looking down to remember to look up.”
“Fear can make something beautiful appear ugly.”
“Guilt is such a sticky emotion; you can’t wash the damn thing off.”
“People say time is a great healer, but it only seems to hurt more the longer she is gone.”