By: Alice Feeney
“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.”
Beautiful Ugly
*This post contains spoilers for Beautiful Ugly
Overview:
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Beautiful Ugly
Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the 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.
This is only the second Alice Feeney book that I have read. The two were very similar in that it focuses on a marriage with secrets and the husband is a unfulfilled writer. Just like Rock Paper Scissors, the writer finds himself on a remote getaway that he knows little about. Beautiful Ugly has Grady who is tricked into going to this isolated island by his publisher. Rock Paper Scissors has Adam, who is tricked into going to a remote house by his ex-wife. Both men also meet there untimely death due to their marital indiscretions.
I do feel as if Beautiful Ugly was more successful as a story than Rock Paper Scissors. It is a more believable that Grady could find himself in this situation. His long time friend and agent suggests that he spend some time at a house she owns on a Scottish Island. He is having trouble writing after the death of his wife and could use the time away from distractions.
What we as the reader don’t know is that Grady is the one that killed his wife… or so he thought. His wife is actually in on the plan to get him to the island as revenge for him trying to kill her.
The twist that the wife was alive wasn’t shocking but the fact that the Grady did it was a real surprise. I still don’t fully understand the logistics as Grady would have had to had not only two phone conversations with Abby while he lay in the road but also a conversation with his publisher about his books success. Seems a little far fetched that he could play dead and do all these things but if he only layed down at the last possible second then it is possible but not probable.
We are also tricked with the flashbacks to Abby’s point of view. The Abby they are referring to is actually Kitty, Grady’s agent and Abby’s godmother. She was also married to a great writer but bad husband and was the writer who was trapped on the island originally. This was a neat way to trick the reader. After reading Rock Paper Scissors, I was looking for the flashbacks to be a clue but because the person in them was named, I was completely thrown off the scent.
When the inhabitants of the island reveal everything to Grady they give him a choice. They can kill him or he can stay on the island and write books to fund the community. He chooses of course to write but sneaks in a hidden message into his book in hopes of being rescued. The book ends with Grady seemingly being caught trying to communicate and is buried alive.
By burying Grady the women proved that they were absolutely series. He is given no chances and has to be removed. The women will most likely use Kitty’s contact to find another bad man who is good at writing to take his place. He was doomed from the moment he set foot on that island.
Overall,
The book was twisty and surprising. Everything you want in an easy to digest thriller book.
Was it earth shattering, no, but still very entertaining. Alice Feeney seems to write good palate cleanser books when you want to read something and be entertained but don’t want to have to think about it too much.
If you like Lucy Foley’s books (The Hunting Party, The Guest List, The Midnight Feast) then you will probably enjoy this book as it gives similar vibes.
Rating: 3/5 stars
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