Rihanna: The Unauthorized Biography

Grammy Award-winning pop starlet Robyn "Rihanna" Fenty is known for her controversial, sometimes tempestuous larger-than-life persona, which has been documented live on Twitter and Instagram. While some fans may prefer the in-depth, behind the carefully crafted stage image (reinforced by the singer's 2010's Last Girl on Earth) treatment that biographers provide, they are unlikely to get this in White's (Johnny Depp; Will.i.am) unauthorized biography. Rihanna reads like a 200-page research essay (albeit an accessible one) that chronicles her childhood and troubled home life in Barbados to her rise to fame. Readers learn about Ri Ri's home life and the addiction issues that caused her parents to divorce, presumably to contextualize her relationship with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Although the 2009 Brown debacle is discussed, an inordinate amount of coverage is given to reviews of Rihanna's albums and concert performances. Drawing from other books and magazine and television interviews, White's effort contributes little to what the ardent fan already knows.