Book Synopsis:
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife as she’s driving home to share some exciting news. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by a 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.
Beautiful Ugly is out on the 30th January 2025 & Rossiter Books in Malvern is hosting an event with Alice Feeney on the 31st January 2025! Tickets available via the Rossiter Books website!
My Review:
Beautiful Ugly is a dark, chilling thriller from one of my all-time favourite thriller writers! It’s going to be a difficult book to review as I don’t want to give anything away.
The story is told mainly from the point of view of writer Grady who is struggling with grief after his wife goes missing and flashbacks from Abby detailing events a week before her disappearance. I started off quite liking Grady who seemed quite a sympathetic, lost character thrown into a situation he can’t seem to understand but that changed a bit as the story continues and we discover more about him. Abby was a fascinating character as she starts off quite mysterious with her past slowly coming out as the story continues. There were times when I felt quite sorry for her but others where I felt frustrated with her as she often seemed to only care about what she wanted.
I really like the vivid descriptions of the fictional island of Amberley with its rugged beauty and interesting, tragic history. As soon as Grady arrives on the island, he realises that nothing and nobody is quite what it seems. The author does a great job at slowly increasing the tension in as we learn more about the characters and the secrets that they are hiding. The tension was so intense at times that I found my self holding my breath as I read more about the truth of what was happening.
The ending was brilliant, horrifying and very unexpected. It’s definitely a book that I’ve continued to think about long after I’ve finished reading and I will be highly recommending it to everyone who enjoys a dark thriller.
About The Author:
Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over thirty-five languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Including Rock Paper Scissors, which is being made into a TV series by the producer of The Crown. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years, and now lives in Devon with her family. Good Bad Girl is her sixth novel.
You can follow Alice on Instagram and Twitter: @alicewriterland
To find out the latest book and TV news, or to sign up for Alice’s free newsletter, please visit: http://www.alicefeeney.com
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Fab review, glad you enjoyed it! xx
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