[Mrs. Y Reviews] Lingering by Melissa Simonson

I was contacted by Melissa Simonson to read her book "Lingering," and I picked this up on Kindle Unlimited. I want to thank Melissa for her patience while I read this book.

"Lingering" is the story of a man named Ben, who is dealing with the horrible death of his fiance Clarissa. Clarissa was larger than life character, and the void the world caused by her death has left Ben in a bad way.

Let me go into my first impressions, and initially, this book made me very sad. I've dealt with grief many times, and I know a lot of the painful feelings Ben has in his life. I do not know the alcoholism he's suffering through, but I do understand the need to numb the pain and the desire to do something that will remove the ache. I know what it's like to feel like "I should have been there" or, "If I had just done this different" when it comes to death. I've never had to deal with murder, but I do know that life is precious, and when that candle goes out, the world feels very dark for those who remain in it. Thus, the hook had me, and I felt compelled to read it. Any book that starts this sad, and with this kind of desperation, it tends to go up from there.

So let me now get into the critique I have for "Lingering," and it's only one critique. We go to the "Whole Story," and it's not a critique I've given much, but this category fit the best with it. I have no idea what kind of book "Lingering" is supposed to be. There, I wrote it. There is a mystery going on with the "who done it" when it comes to Carissa's death. And yet, that plot vanishes and vaporizes but isn't finalized for some reason. Then there is a sci-fi thing going on with tech, youtube videos, and a robot. And yet that one also vaporizes and vanishes and yet isn't finalized for some reason. So maybe, I thought, this book is instead a book on how to grieve over the loss of someone. And yet, just as I felt that the plot somewhat vanishes and the character is over it. And then I thought "Maybe, just maybe, this book is an homage to 'The Art of War' but Tsun Tsu which I adore. I mean it's all over the pages, but even that vanished and vaporized into thin air. It's like Kizer Soze is to "The Usual Suspects" poof, it was just gone. Of all of my scoring categories, "Whole Story" is my most significant and heavily weighted one. For a book to get a good score here, it must fully flesh out the story in a beginning, middle, and ending. With "Lingering," we have a solid beginning and middle, but there isn't much of a transition to an ending. There is a story climax, but a climax is not an ending. I'm lost, my friends. This isn't the "lost in translation" type of lost; it's the lost for words type of lost. I have NO clue what genre this book is, and I don't even know if anything became finalized. "Lingering" reads like a book with two acts and a slight thought of an ending, and I've never read a two and 1/8th act book like this before.

I didn't leave this book satisfied it was over. For a second, I thought the robot plot had finished, but the last two pages torched that notion of mine. Thus, I have no idea if this is a series starter, or if this was a stand-alone. I have to critique it like a stand-alone because I'm going to assume it is, but it ended so strangely. This book is chalked with potential and has such sharp images and plots and pacing, but in the end, it's rushed and thrown together, and there isn't any satisfaction to it.

With that said, let me go into what I did like about "Lingering," and the first part is the "Story Structure, Foundation, and Presentation" category. For Kindle, this book is a dream to read, especially in default settings. The grammar, spelling, punctuation, and margins are sublime. I found this so good to read, and though it has a lot in it, none of "Lingering" caused my eyes to hurt or ache.

Secondly, in the "Cliche Much" category, I am so happy the protagonist who is the alpha male type, is not a misogynistic mess. Any man who knows what a Sigma Brush is and understands how eyeliner thin or thick can make a person's eyes pop is not a misogynistic mess. Ben may drink like a roughneck, but he has the soul of Nadi from PopLuxe.

Next, in the "Lost in Translation" portion of the story, the sci-fi explanations for robot creation and AI brainwork was not confusing. I found it simple to understand, and though there were many technical concepts, I was not bogged down with it to the point where I had to do any research. That also goes for the makeup tutorial explanations, as though that could and can be just as technical and specific; it was easy to understand.

And lastly, I enjoyed the character setups. From Ben and his brooding to Joe and his heartache, to even Robot C and actual Clarissa, I understood who these characters are. I think for me, my favorite character was Jess. I understood her the most, and I do my eyeliner like her, so I suppose I have a dog in this race. That said, I think if her mouth looks like described, she needs to consider nude shade lipsticks in liquid matte, but that's just my opinion. If you don't understand what I said, that is okay because I think that little niche thing should be for all Makeup enthusiasts who are reading this book.

And I think that's the one thing that I want to point out. If you are a reader like me who loves robots and sci-fi, this book will be easy to identify elements to enjoy. And if you are a reader who also happens to love makeup and contour lessons, you also will love this book. This book is for everyone, and I felt it was straightforward to get into and an easy premise. But again, my main critique stands. I'm not sure how you will take the ending; I do know that it left me lost.


Score

With that in mind, my score for "Lingering" is a 78/100 which is a 3-star review on Goodreads and Amazon.