I’m back with another thriller review, and this time, we’re diving into Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly. Now, I’ve read most of Feeney’s books and usually devour them in one sitting, but this one… well, it wasn’t my favorite from the author.

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Beautiful Ugly Summary

Beautiful Ugly drops us onto a tiny Scottish island where our protagonist, Abby Slam, finds herself in quite the predicament. 

As with most Feeney novels, we’re immediately thrown into a situation that makes us g, “Wait, what is happening?” …which is normally my favorite thing about her books.

So here’s the deal: Poor Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. 

He’s a writer (you know how dramatic we book people can be), and he’s got some super exciting news to share with his wife, Abby. He calls her while she’s driving home, all pumped to tell her the good news…

Then, he hears Abby slam on the brakes, the sound of her getting out of the car, and then… nothing. Silence. 

When Grady finally tracks down her car, it’s teetering right at a cliff edge (because, of course, it is), headlights still blazing, driver door hanging open, her phone just sitting there abandoned… but no wife. She’s completely vanished into thin air.

Fast forward a year, and our guy Grady is still a total mess. Can’t sleep, can’t write, and basically can’t function. So he does what any grieving husband would do — packs up and escapes to a tiny Scottish island to try and get his head straight. Classic writer move, right?

But then, he spots a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. Like, carbon copy identical. Is he losing his mind? Is she actually alive? And if it is her, why would she have disappeared?

There’s this quote in the book that perfectly captures the whole vibe: “Wives think their husbands will change, but they don’t. Husbands think their wives won’t change, but they do.” 

Beautiful Ugly Review

Let me start with the positives, because there definitely are some:

First off, nobody does an unreliable narrator quite like Alice Feeney. She’s the queen of making you question everything you’re reading, and Beautiful Ugly continues that tradition. You’ll find yourself constantly wondering who’s telling the truth and who’s hiding something.

The setting is a creepy, isolated place that thriller readers crave, but to be honest, I’m kinda over it. The remote Scottish island becomes almost a character itself, with its moody weather and claustrophobic atmosphere.

And the twist! Oh my goodness, the twist at the end was genuinely surprising and the highlight of the book for me. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, Feeney pulled the rug out from under me in a way I did not see coming. That final reveal made up for some of the book’s weaker elements.

As much as I love Alice Feeney’s work overall, Beautiful Ugly wasn’t my favorite of her books. The plot veers into territory that feels way too unrealistic, even for a psychological thriller (a genre where we already suspend a lot of disbelief).

Beautiful Ugly is a mixed bag. On one hand, it delivers on the twisty, mind-bending promise that Alice Feeney fans have come to expect. That ending? Brilliant. 

But the journey getting there requires you to accept some pretty far-fetched scenarios

If you’re new to Alice Feeney, I’d recommend starting with one of her other books like His & Hers and Good Bad Girl. 

For die-hard Feeney fans? You’ll probably want to read it anyway just for that twist ending, which genuinely is worth it. Just maybe adjust your expectations a bit and prepare for a wilder ride than usual.

Have you read Beautiful Ugly or any of Alice Feeney’s other books? I’d love to hear what you thought. Find me on Bookstagram at @ChristinaAllDay and let me know!