ALC Review: My Husband’s Wife by Alice Fenney
My Husband’s Wife
Author: Alice Feeney
Narrators:
Bel Powley
Henry Rowley
Richard Armitage
To Be Published: January 20, 2026
Audiobook: 8 hours 58 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 23, 2025- January 5, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
Jessica’s Review:
I’ve read a few novels by Alice Feeney, so when I hear she has a book coming out, I look into it. This one has an intriguing premise and I was excited to be granted an advanced copy to listen to and review. And once I started it, I was glad I got this advanced copy.
There are a lot of twists throughout the novel, and it goes in many directions that I was not expecting. And then… Add in a company that claims that it can predict when a person will die… WHAT!?!??!
We have four POVs:
Carter who is a police officer
Eden who is Harrison’s wife and an artist
Birdy who is comes back to Hope Falls and also a police officer.
Harrison who lives in Spyglass and married to Eden
So much happens that it could be hard to keep it all straight. I think the audiobook definitely helped me with this. It is all very implausible and something about the story just did not connect with me. I can’t figure out what it was. Sometimes books are for you and sometimes they just are not. My Husband’s Wife had a lot of promise, but it just ended up not being a book for me.
There are three narrators who did a great job and there are also ‘sound effects’ that enhanced and adds to this story! Nothing too distracting to affect me while I was driving. For example, one effect was when Eden was running you can hear her making those steps. And I just have to say the cover is gorgeous!
Many thanks to the publisher, Macmillan Audio for granting me a copy to listen to and review!
ALC Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Narrators:
Richard Armitage
Tuppence Middleton
To Be Published: January 14, 2025
Audiobook: 9 hours 19 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: December 26, 2024- January 3, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
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.
Jessica’s Review:
I have only read a couple of Alice Feeney’s books, but she is all over my TBR, and with listening to Beautiful Ugly, I really need to try and get her books moved up higher on my list. I was granted an ALC (advanced listening copy) from the publisher and also had an opportunity to read Beautiful Ugly with a physical book via my Book of the Month subscription.
I was glad I had access to a physical copy: There is a map included of the Isle of Amberly which is where Grady goes. I did reference the map as I listened to the audio. Another reason I was delighted to have a physical copy was towards the end of the book something is mentioned. I can’t say what as it could be a spoiler, but I did what was mentioned and I squealed as my reaction! Being able to do this added so much more to the book for me and added a half star to my rating!
Beautiful Ugly has two things to it that I really enjoy and one that can be hit or miss: dual narrators, dual timelines, and the unreliable narrator. With unlikeable characters (other than the dog), a missing wife, and the dual narrators being both Grady and Abby, at about 24% of the way in I texted some friends and said “I’m listening to a book and if it goes Gone Girl, I’m going to be pissed!” I am sure I am not the only reader to think this. We have a dog in this book and I was worried that something would happen to Columbo, as he was a main character along with Grady. Reader and animal lover, fear not: Columbo is fine!
The audiobook has two narrators and they both did a fabulous job. They performed really well with these unlikeable characters. There are also sound effects throughout the narration which enhanced the audiobook. The sounds effects consist of static of the handheld radios, the ocean, and some light music throughout the novel.
I did start this book at the end of 2024 and ended it in 2025, and I hope this is a great sign of the books I will be reading/ listening to this year!
I wasn’t entirely happy with ultimate motives that are uncovered, but dang the final twists were something! I really hope this becomes a mini-series for tv and it sticks with the book, that would be quite a thriller to watch! I won’t say if Beautiful Ugly went the Gone Girl route or not as it would be a spoiler alert. Just read or listen to this book yourself to find out! Many thanks to the publisher for granting me an alc to listen to and review.
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Audiobook Review: Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
Good Bad Girl
Author: Alice Feeney
Narrators:
Katherine Press
Stephanie Racine
Published: August 29, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 21 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: August 25-30, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Twenty years after a baby is stolen from a stroller, a woman is murdered in a care home. The two crimes are somehow linked, and a good bad girl may be the key to discovering the truth.
Edith may have been tricked into a nursing home, but at eighty-years-young, she’s planning her escape. Patience works there, cleaning messes and bonding with Edith, a kindred spirit. But Patience is lying to Edith about almost everything.
Edith’s own daughter, Clio, won’t speak to her. And someone new is about to knock on Clio’s door…and their intentions aren’t good.
With every reason to distrust each other, the women must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might just find out what happened to the baby who disappeared, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them.
Jessica’s Review:
Good Bad Girl had promise for me, but it is less of a thriller and more of a slow burn domestic drama dealing with complicated mother/ daughter relationships. We have two crimes that occur twenty years apart that are somehow connected: a kidnapped baby and a murder at an assisted living facility. We have 4 main characters that are the focus on Good Bad Girl. Alice Feeney knows how to write: “This is a crime with three suspects, two murders, and one victim.”
For me the title could have been different: Can we please drop the ‘Girl’ in book titles, especially when we don’t even have a ‘girl’ in the story? All the characters were grown women. ‘Girl’ is in just too many titles these days for thrillers. Especially when the book is less thriller and more domestic drama.
For me the audiobook did not really work: This is a book where I need to actually be sitting down to actually read it and not worry about driving. Because of this I had trouble following the book and keeping the characters straight. The two narrators were very similar in their voices, so I know that did not help me either. I would be willing to pick up a physical/kindle copy to see if I can end up with a differing opinion of this one.
Many thanks to the publisher for granting me a copy to listen to and review.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK