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:
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It was a different style from what I normally read which is I guess why book clubs exist, they make you read outside of your norm. I couldn't stand Addison, but in the end you see that she was a product of her surroundings. I didn't like her, but I did feel for her. I wouldn't say that I liked or disliked this book; it was just something that I read. ( )

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone is such a well written and overall put together book with all the pictures, art and media throughout, that some readers still wonder if Addison is a real person. (She isn't: the girl in the photos is Giza LaGarce.) If I knew less about this book I might believe she was indeed real and what I was reading was a true story.
I truly enjoyed the plot and the ending was perfect.

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This is the fictional biography of art prodigy Addison Stone. The concept was interesting, but I found the story choppy, the way it jumped back and forth between different interviews and news stories. I’m sure many young adult readers will love this, but in the end I just felt way too old for it. Plus, I think people like me who live in more rural areas just “don’t get” the New York art scene. ( )

Addison Stone outgrew her small home town in Rhode Island emotionally and artistically. While descriptions of her personality varied, her art was uniformly lauded and declared to be beyond her age. Both a troubled life and the instantaneous artistic fame at a young age had their impacts on her. She died young, the intent of her fall of the Brooklyn Bridge undetermined (at least at the point that I stopped reading).

In The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone Adele Griffin has her friends and family, teachers and students, boyfriends and boyfriend wannabees describe her life. Peppered with photos of Stone, reproductions of her artwork, newspaper articles, etc. this book tells the story of her short and unfinished life. This ‘multimedia’ approach is rare, although not unique. There’s a book I read whose name I’m having trouble remembering (but I will) which did a similar thing. (The book is Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral. See my review at: http://2headstogether.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/chopsticks-by-jessica-anthony-and...

I’ve been on a string of not finishing books recently (this is the third out of 4) so I really wanted to like it. It’s getting great reviews. However, I couldn’t get through it. The combination of artwork and narrative certainly made the book better, but still, I’m sorry to say I found it boring. Normally I wouldn’t use words like that but that’s the only word I can come up with.

Addison did not have an interesting life and to devote almost 250 pages to it seems excessive. Griffin is a well respected YA writer and I understand and applaud her intention to stretch the YA book boundary. I just wish it had been with a more interesting book. ( )