I was haunted by this book and haunted by Addison. This is the first docu-novel I have read and I loved it.

The writing in this is terrific. My favorite thing about this book is that it is told through interviews with Addison's friends and family as they recount her life. Each persons story of Addison is shaped by their own opinions, history and feelings. No one take on Addison is shown as right or wrong since it is perception of the individual. By the end the reader has developed their own perception of Addison and is able to see the truth in the individual accounts.

This is a fantastic read.

This wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't really my type of thing. The concept and layout (newspaper clippings and photographs inside the book) of it reminded me a lot of Marisha Pessl's Night Film, but I didn't enjoy the execution as much.

I also had some trouble getting into it because of the switching perspectives, but it did get better as I went along.

But yeah, all in all, it was an enjoyable read. I had just expected for it to be more captivating than it actually ended up being for me, and the ending unfortunately fell a bit flat.

The concept of this book is so great: a writer trying to piece together a young artist's life and tragic death through a series of interviews with everyone who knew her. The result is a book of transcripts, media clippings, photographs, and paintings that feels almost like a case file. The images are vibrant, the paintings gripping, but the problem was pretty much every voice and every article didn't sound real. I was never convinced that if these people were real that they would actually speak and think the way the author presented them. So many of the characters felt like caricatures that I could never get lost in the narrative.

4.5

I do like mysteries and The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone is a mystery novel worth reading for, at least in my opinion. I did solely sign-up for the mystery of why Addison Stone's life had been unfinished yet eventually I was lured by the interesting, admiring and kinda frustrating life of her; which has been told by the different people related to her, in one way or another.

Addison Stone is an art genius. Within the book, her arts, especially portraits have been admired by many people and have been described as one of the best; I mean her paintings and drawings have the uniqueness, the depth. She is one-of-a-kind girl. For me, she is like Alaska Young for doing crazies and pranks. She is like Mara Dyer for she can hear voices of dead people and see them. I can feel the same creepiness for the both of her. And her story is like Gone Girl but with a twist. So, in my preference, Addison Stone is an interesting character with an interesting life story. I did enjoy reading this book. And by 'enjoy' it may mean so many things.

Anyhow, just like Peculiar Children and Asylum, this book contained pictures but of Addison of course, and some people in her life. The writing style of the book is in different POVs since it was in an interview-type format which actually delivered. It wasn't boring 'cause it felt like they telling a story. I, actually like how every person related to Addison precisely described her and her life for what they really saw about her. And I like how themselves had been described too.

I just don't like like the ending. I am anticipating a shocking one but didn't get any. But at least it really made sense.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin is a book I will be thinking about for a long time. I was lucky enough to get the chance to read an e-galley prior to its publication date, but this really is a book you will want to own a physical copy of. The documentary-style of the narrative, along with the photographs and artwork make Addison Stone a book you will want to pick up, hold, and thumb through.

What is so memorable about Adele Griffin's newest book is how, despite the fact that Addison Stone is dead by the time the reader gets to know her, we are able to really feel her presence in the story, via the accounts of the people who knew her. This novel is an attempt to make sense of Addison's untimely demise by interviewing all the people close to her. While the book is somewhat of a mystery, it feels more like a recounting of her life rather than an attempt to solve whether her death involved foul play.

Read my entire review on my blog.

This one just wasn't for me. It's a little too dark and a little too bleak. I just don't see the point in being drawn into her world only to watch her spiral. To see her spiral through the perceptions of those around her and to see (hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20) what they now know they missed and how even one step - one phone call, one "I love you", one trip extended, one extra hug, professional intervention -

Spoiler

might have saved her

the cast of characters was big and the reading was good but so hard to follow all the names and opinions and how they all fit together.

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The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
Adele Griffin


Amazon / Goodreads

A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection
An Amazon Best Book 2014
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Booklist Top Ten Arts Books for Youth
A School Library Journal Best Book 2014
A Romantic Times Finalist for Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library YA Book of the Year

National Book Award-finalist Adele Griffin tells the fully illustrated story of a brilliant young artist, her mysterious death, and the fandom that won't let her go.

From the moment she stepped foot in NYC, Addison Stone’s subversive street art made her someone to watch, and her violent drowning left her fans and critics craving to know more. I conducted interviews with those who knew her best—including close friends, family, teachers, mentors, art dealers, boyfriends, and critics—and retraced the tumultuous path of Addison's life. I hope I can shed new light on what really happened the night of July 28.
—Adele Griffin
___________________________________________________________________________

On a principle, I don't read nonfiction. Why? They don't catch my interest. This story did. Maybe it's because my copy was an ARC. Maybe because it was cheap. I'm not sure. But this story...this girl who was a burning star. Goddammit. I'm not sure.

This review has to be different. It's because how it's written. It's nonfiction. Which makes it complicated.

Addison was a fascinating person. She was burning. A burning star. She was eccentric. Crazy. Wild. I thought she was fascinating. But not someone I would friend. She was someone who was wild. She did whatever she wanted to do. Nothing held her back. She thought her acts were art. Magic. She thought she was the queen. She was queen. Who am I kidding? Addison Stone was some sort of queen. Queen of what? No clue at all. She was so eccentric. Seeing her life. What she did. That was amazing.
She was so young. So young. Gosh. I can't believe it. How old was she? Eighteen? Nineteen? So young. Just a kid. I can't believe her talent. Her unicorn drawing from age SIX. It's better than some adults with experience. She saw so much. She saw the world and back. How did this little girl see so much?

What happened? I'm not sure. Her life was so complicated. I want to say this is the plot...but then again...this isn't fiction.
She had so many things happening. So many different things. It was confusing. And hard to keep track. I wanted to keep track. But couldn't. She was an artist in her town. Famous. Won many competitions. And then she was in New York. And doing crazy things at parties. At classes but not at classes. It was crazy. Her life was a wild ride.

And the question is...how did she die? I don't know. I don't think I got enough about Lincoln Reed or Zach Frat to say either of them did it.
They might have fought. They might have said things. They might have pulled Addison over the edge. But how she died is still a mystery.
This is my opinion.
It was an accident. She had scars. She had Ida. She had pain. But she didn't seem to want to jump. She slipped trying to make another masterpiece.
This book isn't the podcast Serial. It's not Serial at all. But we do see Addison's life. Eccentric. Crazy. Which is different.

Rating:
3/5

This one is hard for me. I would say more like 3.5 stars. It was really well-written, very creative. I liked that it was written via interviews (and photos and artwork were included). It made the world of Addison Stone real. I'm glad to have read this, I appreciated the work that went into it. But it was not a feel-good book for me. The drama in it was a little much at times. The author did a good job, but this is not a book I'll likely read again.

Mind = Blown

I'm sad to say "The Unfinished Life..." remains unfinished. As in, I did not finish reading it.

I started off loving it. Its mixed media approach reminded me of the adult title "Night Film." But the interviews about fictional artist Addison Stone quickly became too detailed...without too much plot. I became disinterested.