2 star

Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

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.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.



I wasn’t totally familiar with Alice Feeney’s work previously, but at the bookstore it seems like she does have quite the selection. Anyway, glad to have picked this up, although ultimately it wasn’t the kind of book for me.

Beautiful Ugly mostly takes place on a tiny (isolated) Scottish island, where our protagonist, Grady, goes to try to finally write a book to get his life back on track. His wife Abby had disappeared over a year ago one night, mysteriously, and Grady had not recovered since. The island seems to be a peaceful idyllic getaway, far from distractions of modern London life. However, Grady, who has slowly been descending into madness, seems to see his missing wife everywhere he goes. And mysterious messages appear, targeted just at him, the lone visitor on the island. Just what happened to his wife that fateful night?

Continue reading “Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney”
3 star

ARC Review: Keep Your Friends Close by Cynthia Murphy

Chloe Roberts is on top of the world at Morton Academy. She’s a shoo-in for Head Girl and the lead spot in the school’s secret Jewel and Bone. But then her best friend, Nikhita Patel, betrays her, and life comes crashing down.

Things take a darker turn when Chloe stumbles upon the Book of Crime and Punishment – a record of every misdeed committed by Morton students and the fitting penalty. And it’s not long before entries in the book start to match up with murders of Jewel and Bone members. Anyone could be a suspect.

Can Chloe get to the bottom of this twisted game before she’s next on the killer’s hit list . . . ?



**When We Were Monsters comes out September 2, 2025**

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t been reading a lot of thrillers lately so it’s been nice to jump back into a few in a row. This premise had the makings of something really great, but I think ultimately fell a bit short of 4-star for me with its execution. It was an enjoyable summer read, and had pretty good pacing, but was simultaneously predictable and unpredictable. There’s a surprise twist at the end, but for some reason it was not too impactful? Overall not a bad story but just isn’t one of the greats for me

Continue reading “ARC Review: Keep Your Friends Close by Cynthia Murphy”
3 star

ARC Review: When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven

A simmering psychological thriller about a dead teacher at an elite boarding school, the students who had every reason to want her gone, and the tangled web of rivalry and romance concealing the truth—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places.

At an elite boarding school, 8 students are selected for an exclusive program, but only one will walk away with a lifechanging opportunity to realize their creative dreams. 

Effy is piecing together a story about the tragic betrayal that led to her mother’s death. Arlo hopes to publish a novel—but he’s also trying to start a new chapter with Effy after he broke her heart and ghosted 3 years earlier. Everyone has a compelling reason to be there—they all want a big break—but only the most ambitious will prevail as the students are eliminated one by one.

Their mentor is the one and only Meredith Graffam, an enigmatic writer, director and actress, whose unorthodox teaching methods push them past the breaking point. Under Graffam’s tutelage, the students reveal their darkest secrets, take unthinkable risks, and slowly start to turn on one another. But Graffam never expected they would turn on her . . .



**When We Were Monsters comes out September 2, 2025**

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

A “simmering” psychological thriller is a pretty apt description. A fairly classic way of starting a thriller, the author reveals who the victim is right away. These kinds of stories usually start then divulging from the beginning, and we slowly have our re-build up to the climax of how the murder happens. However, this book was slightly different.

Continue reading “ARC Review: When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven”