Let me tell you about this wild psychological thriller called “Beautiful Ugly” – it’s quite a ride!

So there’s this author named Grady Green who’s basically hit rock bottom. His wife Abby mysteriously vanished a year ago, he can’t write anymore, he’s broke, and he’s basically falling apart. Then his agent Kitty throws him what seems like a lifeline – she offers him a stay at this remote cabin on a tiny Scottish island called Amberly to help him get his writing mojo back.

Now, this is where things get really interesting. The island seems picture-perfect at first, but something’s… off. There are only 25 residents, all women, and they’re acting super weird. Plus, Grady keeps seeing what he thinks is his missing wife Abby everywhere. Oh, and get this – there are literally no birds on the entire island. Creepy, right?

While staying in this cabin that used to belong to another famous author (who, by the way, supposedly killed himself there), Grady finds a hidden manuscript. Being desperate and all, he decides to steal it and pass it off as his own work. Bad move, buddy.

But here’s the kicker – turns out Abby IS actually alive and on the island! And man, does she have a story to tell. See, Grady wasn’t exactly the innocent grieving husband he appeared to be. That night Abby disappeared? He actually tried to kill her by pushing her off a cliff because he thought she was having an affair when she was actually just trying to have a baby through IVF since he’d secretly had a vasectomy. Talk about trust issues!

The whole thing ends up being this elaborate revenge plot. The island is basically a sanctuary for women escaping bad situations with men, and they’ve all been playing Grady like a fiddle. Even his agent Kitty was in on it – she’s actually Abby’s godmother and has her own crazy connection to the island.

The ending? Well, let’s just say Grady ends up getting exactly what the women of Amberly think he deserves. And that bestselling book he wrote? It apparently has a hidden message asking for help – but will anyone find it in time?

It’s one of those stories that keeps you guessing and then hits you with twist after twist. Makes you think twice about both isolated island communities AND seemingly perfect marriages! If you’re into psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators and dark secrets, this one’s definitely worth checking out. Just maybe don’t read it right before visiting any remote Scottish islands… 😉

What’s really clever about it is how it plays with themes of truth, perception, and karma. Everyone’s got their version of events, but figuring out who’s really telling the truth? That’s the fun part!

The way this novel is structured is pretty clever – it keeps switching between different perspectives and timelines, which really messes with your head in the best way possible. Like, at first you’re totally feeling sorry for Grady, right? Here’s this guy who’s lost everything and is just trying to write again. He can’t sleep, he’s drinking too much, and his only friend is his black Labrador, Columbo. Pretty sad stuff.

Then there’s all these super weird things happening on the island. Like how this place called Beautiful Ugly (which is also the title of the book) is run by someone who looks exactly like his wife but claims she isn’t. And there’s this creepy old shopkeeper Cora who always wears green and seems to know everything about everyone. Plus, these random newspaper articles written by his wife keep appearing under his door. It’s proper spooky!

The island itself is basically another character in the story. It’s shaped like a broken heart (how symbolic is that?) and has all these places with ominous names like Darkside Cave and The Edge. Plus there’s this whole backstory about how they got rid of all the birds because they were killing these special redwood trees. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how strange this place is.

What’s really fascinating is how everything ties together. Like, remember Sandy, the ferry captain who’s also the island sheriff? Turns out her daughter was one of twelve children who drowned in Darkside Cave years ago, and Abby was the only survivor. That’s why she came back to the island after Grady tried to kill her – it was her childhood home and these women were her real family all along.

And can we talk about that twist with Kitty? Finding out she’s actually the ex-wife of the famous author Charles Whittaker AND used to live on the island herself? That’s some next-level plotting right there. She basically orchestrated this whole thing to get revenge for her goddaughter.

The really chilling part is how the women of the island operate. They’ve created this perfect little sanctuary where men aren’t allowed to live – emphasis on “live.” There’s a reason there’s so many unmarked graves in the churchyard…

And poor Grady, thinking he could just write books and everything would be fine. By the end, he’s technically got everything he wanted – he’s a bestselling author again, living in isolation where he can write. But he’s basically a prisoner, kept alive only as long as he keeps producing bestsellers for the island’s income.

What makes it extra creepy is that final scene where he realizes he’s been buried alive in a coffin lined with copies of his own books. It’s like peak poetic justice – the guy who tried to kill his wife is now living his worst nightmare.

The book is also full of these cool little details, like how every chapter title is an oxymoron (like “Happily Married” or “Living Dead”), and there’s apparently a secret message spelled out by the first words of certain chapters that might be a cry for help from Grady. It’s the kind of book where you finish it and immediately want to go back and look for all the clues you missed!