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: https://2headstogether.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/chopsticks-by-jessica-anthony-and-rodrigo-corral/)
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.
Two Heads Together 
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