THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ADDISON STONE

by Adele Griffin

young adult // dark // contemporary

 

I received an ARC of this book at BookCon in New York City.  Expected publication is August of 2014.

 

Unfinished Life is about an enigmatic 18-year-old artist named Addison who fell to her death while installing one of her works over a New York City bridge.  Initially, I thought the story was going to focus on the cause of death, but it’s really about Addison’s intense life that led to this seemingly unavoidable end.

 

A curious former professor of Addison’s is drawn to her tragic tale and compiles a complete history of her life in this book.  It may not sound especially unique, but I have never read anything like this before.   I don’t even know how to classify this book. 

 

It reads like non-fiction— a documentary on this mystifying wild child and what brought her to the literal edge.  The whole story is written in interview snippets from countless people who were involved in Addison’s life.  I thought this was going to be confusing and annoying, but the characters were easy to keep straight, and the constant change-up in voice was refreshing.   Several of the interviewees were only heard from once, but it amazed me how clear and strong the recurrent voices were.  The speaker changed so often, sometimes I’d forget to glance at who was narrating, but there was never any question in my mind when Erikson spoke, or Lucy, Zach, or Lincoln.  This is extremely impressive because I’ve read simple dual POV books that aren’t able to establish such clear distinction in personality and voice.  This writing style also provided such a well-rounded account of Addison’s life from all perspectives.  On numerous occasions, I completely forgot this was a work of fiction.  It felt so real.  There is no omniscient narrator, only the thoughts, observations, and ideas of everyone in and around this girl’s life— complete with photographs and examples of her artwork.

 

Addison as a character freaked me out.  She was so intense and had that effortless cool way about her that drew everyone to her.  But her intensity was kind of scary, and while I understand the tortured artist mindset… she was so extreme.  There were aspects of her personality and her demons I could relate to, but for the most part I didn’t care for her much at all.  **side note: prepare to have “Chandelier” by Sia stuck in your head**

 

I wish there had been a little more depth and closure at the end.  This is realistic, contemporary fiction, but there were some slightly supernatural elements that were thrown in and then glossed over.  I also felt somewhat disconnected from the characters, which may be a byproduct of the interview style of storytelling.  I don’t know.  I just didn’t feel completely satisfied when I finished reading.  Overall, I think this book is an impressive feat.  The addition of all the supplemental material is pretty remarkable.  I’m curious about who created all of the artwork and where all of those photographs came from.  There was so much care taken with this project.