I liked it but I didn't love it hence the 3 out of 5 stars. I thought it was a mystery/suspense read but it wasn't. It's a faux biography. The entire novel was people's recollection of manic-pixie-dream-girl Addison Stone and through their recollection we get the story of Addison's life, from their childhood all the way to her death. It was an interesting read. Full review to come.

I really liked the multimedia format of the book and thought it was an interesting way to build up Addison's background. However, I felt like the voices of the characters were unrealistic at times and that annoyed me somewhat. Since so much of a book depends on dialogue, when people seemed unauthentic it just felt like bad writing and made it harder to continue. Overall though, the format and idea kept me interested.

Ok so this was interesting. I picked it up solely because it was so different than anything else I've read, and I was definitely entertained. It was cool to put the pieces together of the story and to understand who this character was and how her death came about. You are given the pieces to the puzzle and you just have to figure out how they fit. It's a really cool way to tell a story.

I wanted to like this one, but I was turned off early on and lost interest and could barely pull through in the end. We get it. She's a child prodigy, she's thin, she's the smartest, bestest, brightest, weirdest, thinnest, prettiest, etc etc etc etc. It got tiresome to read all these people going on and on about how unearthly and amazing and weird and thin and outstanding this girl was.

So fucking tiresome.

engaging and unique. READ REVIEW HERE

UPDATE: I just saw a color version of this book and WOAH!!! It's BEAUTIFUL!

Adele Griffin tells the "biography" of an up-and-coming artist on the NYC scene named Addison Stone. Addison Stone was a mystery... in her life and in her death. She lived in her own world, had her own demons, and created so much beauty in so little of time. Dead before the age of 20, so many people wondered why... and what would her legacy ultimately be? A former (and very brief) teacher of Addison chose to take on the task of getting to know everyone in that inner circle... anyone who could shed light on the the true Addison Stone. And Addison Stone turns out to be a girl many people thought they knew, but maybe only a few people really did.

My Thoughts:
The idea of this book is SO cool!! I met Adele Griffin at BEA (and because I freaking LOVE her, I was 2nd in line!!), and when she explained that this book was a fiction non-fiction, I was so intrigued. I have never read a book like that before. I've never even heard of a book like that before. I think it's the coolest idea ever. I mean, as an author that has to be so fun to create this character in your head, and then "interview" everyone this character knows and get their take on your character's life. Not sure that my explanation there actually made sense, but what I'm meaning to say is it sounds like it would be really fun to write a book like this.

So reading the actual book was just as fun. It's about this girl who was basically born with an amazing talent. She was made to create art. Not only because she was super talented (which she was), but also because her soul was made to be eccentric. Throughout the book you get to see actual pictures of Addison, along with pictures of her art. It's all in black and white, but I was told the final copies will be in color, and I'm really excited to see what those look like!!

Addison goes from free spirit child, to troubled teen, to young adult living on her own in New York City on the brink of fame and fortune. She is someone who was hard to relate to most of the time because she was very troubled and also had a unique way of thinking about life. She also just doesn't react to things the way I would and seemed to be sort of an enigma. But at the same time Addison had very teenagery immature moments that I thought were plain and common. For instance her inability to let go of her ex-boyfriend Zach Frat. She was in love with someone else, but still had this obsession with getting back at Zach. I've DEFINITELY been there before. And it was really immature, but who can help themselves when it comes to ex-boyfriends?

Anyway I don't have better words for this book other than cool and unique. It really feels like an actual biography and I had to remind myself multiple times that none of these people really exist. (But it would be really awesome if Lincoln Reed did because HELLO!! Sexy!!). I had fun getting to know this frustrating intriguing girl. I kind of wish it was longer though because I felt like I was just getting into to it and it was over already. But also that is sort of the point when you have a life cut short. I definitely think everyone should give this book a try. It's going to be like nothing you've ever read in YA Fiction.

OVERALL: A fiction biography that highlights the life of an It-Girl in NYC and how she got there. I enjoyed the book and also wanted more from it. I loved the images throughout the book and how they just added to the realness of it. It made me forgot that I was reading Fiction at times as it is really true to the biography format and feel. I would definitely recommend this cool and unique book!!

My Blog:

To critics, she's an protégé, with artistic ability beyond her years. To her friends, she's a wild child in need of protection, always high on adrenaline and without a healthy sense of fear. To her family, she's the one who got away, leaving small-town Rhode Island for New York City before high school graduation. She's the one and only Addison Stone, 17-year-old art celebrity—and now, a girl who tragically died too young.

But to Adele Griffin, she's an enigma, a mystery, a story waiting to be told. And through interviews, newspaper clippings, and snapshots of Addison's artwork, the author brings the title character to life, creating a fictional tale vivid enough to feel like real investigative journalism.

Addison is a talented artist, readers quickly learn, and The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone proves it by spotlighting images of her work. I don't know who painted Addison's watercolors or scribbled her sketches, but he or she added an engaging edge to the story. While I have read about plenty of teenage artists, few books have provided me the chance to see these characters' projects for myself, and this book's original format makes Addison a more lifelike and believable character. I found myself looking forward to each painting and felt disappointed in the few that were mentioned in the text but not included as an image.

Addison's artistry also shines through in the text portion of this novel, as friends and family tell tales of her adventurous escapades. The protagonist is never afraid to break social customs—or even laws—for the sake of making life more interesting, showing a free spirit typical of a young, passionate artist. I loved reading about each of Addison's wild projects, from swinging on chandeliers to teaming up with graffiti artists, all of which paint her as an intoxicatingly rebellious individual.

More importantly, however, readers learn that Addison is a bit mentally unstable, battling demons and ghosts from her early teens to the day of her death. Anyone who is familiar with Griffin's writing knows that the author can handle mental illness expertly, and The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone is no exception. Just like in the author's previous books, the protagonist's disturbed psyche adds a compelling component to the story, leading readers to question what is real and what is imagined and leading Addison closer to her death. However, Addison's mental illness is not merely a plot point; Griffin also sensitively shows the protagonist's struggle to calm the voices in her head and reluctance to take her medication. If I needed any further proof of Griffin's mastery over the mind (which I absolutely did not), the author's latest book would have more than provided it.

Addison's obsession with art combines with her less-than-secure psyche to create not only a plot worth reading, but a character worth remembering. Every Adele Griffin protagonist I have encountered haunts me to this day, but I can tell that Addison will demand a larger share of my memory than the rest. With her eye for color and form, love of New York City, and compulsion toward risk-taking, she is a character the world can neither ignore nor forget.

This review originally appeared at www.foreverliterary.com.

I enjoyed this! (Who wouldn't be charmed by Addison?!) I love piecing together the narrative through the multiple perspectives. However, yes, this story is definitely full of stereotypes. Coincidentally, this novel became available through my library right after I finished reading "Night Film" by Marisha Pessl, which has some similarities in that it's about the mystery behind a talented, beautiful young woman's death. "Night Film" is much more compelling though.

Such a unique book

This is a story about a brilliant young artist, told entirely from the POV of the many other folks in and around her life (before she died). The result: many, many MANY pages of other characters going on (and on. and on) about how cool and awesome and beautiful and mysterious and troubled this girl was. Gush gush gush. Swoon swoon swoon. I get that this was kind of the point - to consider how everyone took their own ideas of who Addison and ran with it, often to the detriment of Addison's health and well-being - but the praise and idolization was too overblown for me to take seriously.