📘 Beautiful Ugly – Book Summary
Beautiful Ugly is Alice Feeney’s 2025 psychological thriller that delves into the haunting aftermath of loss and the danger of buried secrets. The story centers on author Grady Green, whose wife Abby vanishes after a cryptic phone call. A year later, plagued by grief and writer’s block, Grady retreats to a remote Scottish island to finish his novel—only to encounter a woman who looks exactly like Abby. As his obsession grows, the lines between reality, memory, and deception begin to blur. With Feeney’s signature twists and atmospheric tension, the novel explores the fragile intersection of grief, guilt, and identity.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Grief distorts perception: Loss can cloud judgment and create illusions we cling to for comfort.
- Truth is layered: What’s visible on the surface may hide far more complex realities beneath.
- Isolation feeds obsession: Seclusion intensifies paranoia and emotional unraveling.
- Secrets demand reckoning: Buried truths inevitably rise—often with devastating results.
- Appearances deceive: Beauty and ugliness are not always what they seem.
📚 Overview
Released in January 2025, Beautiful Ugly marks a return to Feeney’s darkest storytelling yet. A standalone psychological thriller, it blends gothic suspense with modern themes of trauma, memory, and revenge. Set on a haunting Scottish island, the novel has earned praise for its dreamlike atmosphere and masterful pacing. Feeney once again crafts a suspenseful narrative full of layered characters, shocking revelations, and a final act that rewrites everything readers think they know.
✍️ About the Author
Alice Feeney is a bestselling author and former BBC journalist known for her twist-heavy psychological thrillers. Her earlier novels—including Sometimes I Lie, His & Hers, and Rock Paper Scissors—have sold over a million copies and been translated into 25+ languages. She’s celebrated for crafting unreliable narrators, complex characters, and endings that completely reframe her stories. Feeney brings a journalist’s precision and a storyteller’s flair to every book she writes.
🌟 Reception and Impact
Since its release, Beautiful Ugly has received significant attention and acclaim:
- New York Times Bestseller
- Endorsed by fellow authors, including Lisa Jewell, who called it “a work of genius”
- Described as “her best yet” by Harlan Coben
- Praised for its “creepy, almost supernatural sense of menace” and “off-the-charts atmosphere”
- Over 22,000 reviews on Goodreads shortly after launch
Readers and critics alike commend Feeney’s psychological insight, immersive setting, and clever manipulation of narrative expectations.
🌍 Plot and World-Building
Set in the remote Scottish Outer Hebrides, the island setting is both eerie and essential. Drawing on Feeney’s own experiences of isolation during a storm-stranded visit, the novel captures the haunting beauty and tension of such a place. The island functions almost as a character—its silence, unpredictability, and isolation heightening the protagonist’s descent.
The dual-timeline narrative shifts between present-day events and flashbacks from the week leading up to Abby’s disappearance. This structure slowly builds psychological pressure and suspense, forcing readers to question every character’s version of the truth.
🎭 Main Storyline
Grady Green, a once-successful author, calls his wife Abby to share good news—only to hear a car screech, a door slam… and then silence. Abby is never seen again.
One year later, Grady, emotionally shattered and creatively blocked, travels to a secluded Scottish island at his editor’s urging. There, he begins seeing a woman who looks exactly like Abby. Haunted by guilt, suspicion, and loneliness, Grady becomes obsessed.
Told mostly from Grady’s unreliable point of view—interwoven with flashbacks from Abby—a chilling narrative unfolds. As memories collide with hallucinations, and truth unravels, Grady must confront not only what happened to Abby, but who he really is.
👑 Key Characters and Themes
Main Characters
- Grady Green – A grieving, unreliable narrator whose emotional instability and guilt drive the story
- Abby Green – Grady’s missing wife, whose flashback chapters reveal secrets that complicate her disappearance
- Island Woman – A mysterious figure resembling Abby who may or may not be real
- Island Residents – Locals with knowledge—and possibly involvement—in the events surrounding Abby
Major Themes
- Grief and memory – The distortion of perception and identity under emotional strain
- Deception and truth – The lies we tell others—and ourselves
- Marriage and secrets – How intimacy can obscure deeper truths
- Obsession and delusion – The danger of unprocessed trauma
- Justice and revenge – The price of past actions coming due
- Doppelgängers and identity – The eerie familiarity of strangers and the fear of mistaken identity
🧠 Who Should Read This?
Beautiful Ugly is ideal for:
- Fans of psychological thrillers with layered characters and unreliable narrators
- Readers of Alice Feeney’s earlier novels or fans of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins
- Those who enjoy remote, atmospheric settings with a gothic flair
- Book clubs looking for discussion-worthy twists and moral ambiguity
- Readers intrigued by themes of loss, obsession, and psychological decline
⚠️ Content warnings: Includes references to adult and child death, domestic violence, grief, alcohol abuse, grooming, and sexual assault.
💬 Best Quote
“Beautiful things can be ugly underneath, and ugly things can be beautiful on the surface. The truth is rarely what it seems.”
This line perfectly captures the novel’s theme of deceptive appearances and moral ambiguity.
📚 Final Thoughts
Beautiful Ugly is one of Alice Feeney’s most mature and ambitious works to date. It’s a chilling, slow-burn psychological thriller that unfolds like a puzzle, with every piece revealing something darker beneath the surface. Through rich character work and masterful control of suspense, Feeney challenges readers to question what’s real, who’s trustworthy, and what love can hide.
The isolated island setting amplifies the story’s claustrophobia and emotional unease, and the final twist is both shocking and thought-provoking. Equal parts character study and psychological mystery, Beautiful Ugly confirms Feeney’s reputation as a master of the genre.
👉 Read This If You…
- Loved Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train
- Enjoy twisty thrillers with psychological depth
- Are drawn to stories about grief and obsession
- Like books that challenge your perception of truth
- Want a gripping read set in a chilling, remote location
- Appreciate nuanced character arcs with moral complexity
- Prefer thrillers with both emotional weight and page-turning suspense
❓ FAQ
Q: Is this a standalone novel?
A: Yes, Beautiful Ugly is a self-contained story with no connection to Feeney’s previous books.
Q: How scary is it?
A: It’s more psychologically tense than terrifying—unsettling rather than horror-driven.
Q: Are there supernatural elements?
A: While some scenes feel eerie, the story is grounded in psychological realism.
Q: How does this compare to Feeney’s other books?
A: Many readers and critics consider it her strongest novel yet, particularly for its atmosphere and character complexity.
Q: Is the ending satisfying?
A: Yes. The final twists are unexpected and deeply tied to the novel’s central themes of identity, grief, and deception.
