Blank: A Novel

De: Zibby Owens

Narrado por: Sharon Freedman

A wife, mother, and frustrated writer faces an impossible deadline for turning her life around in a hilarious debut novel about family, friendship, success, and exhilarating self-(re)discovery.

Pippa Jones is a fortyish former literary sensation who fears she will be a one-hit wonder. After the follow-up book she was almost done writing, Podlusters, had to be tossed (it ended up sharing a plot and title with superstar author Ella Rankin’s summer blockbuster!), she couldn’t write a thing. Months of staring at a blank page made her confidence vanish like a one-night stand. When she finds out that she has only five days left to finish (or rather, start) or repay an advance she’s already spent, Pippa has a brilliantly original idea. Okay, fine, her twelve-year-old son came up with it as a joke, but Pippa and her teenage daughter approved.

Pippa’s not only going to make a bold statement, but she’ll change the book world while she’s at it! Can she pull it off? At this point, she doesn’t have a choice.

When Pippa’s publisher gets intimately involved, it unlocks a series of plot twists she never saw coming. From the courtyards of posh Beverly Hills hotels and Malibu mega-mansions to Brentwood and Santa Monica bookstores, Pippa races against time—in her used Volvo—and discovers more about her career, marriage, family, friends, and herself than she ever could have dreamed up.

©2024 by Zibby Owens. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Owens clearly understands the publishing industry…. An enjoyable read full of book industry antics and plenty of dramatic surprises.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Owens’s depiction of Pippa’s angst feels genuine, especially given the convincingly portrayed demands of marriage and motherhood…”—Publishers Weekly

“Owens' depiction of a neurotic writer on the brink is presented with comic zeal, but the plot elements focused on Pippa’s personal life are likely to resonate most with readers.”—Booklist

The plot twists

Blank by Zibby Owens
Meet Pippa Jones, once a best selling author, now struck with writer's block. She had a new novel almost finished when another author published first, the exact story and title. She is devastated, unable to write anything new. Five days away from defaulting on her contract, Pippa comes up with a bold idea at the suggestion of her son.
Pippa sets out to make a statement in the publishing world and stumbles upon twist after twist with her own friends and family.
This is a brilliant novel! I really enjoyed it. I loved the advise given to Pippa's teenage daughter at the end. It is inspiring and can be applied to anyone looking for love.
This was a light fun book with well developed characters. Read it! 5/5⭐s

so SO GOOD!

Brilliantly written! Ethan and Kelly are awful though lol IYKYK- The FMC was written perfectly!

The plot of the story is good, the blank book aspect spoke volumes.

The end of the book felt rushed. The narrator was fine with female voices and the kids. The adult male voices were not great.

Great story

Loved this book and author. Pleasant surprise from someone I’ve never read before. Can’t wait to see what else she has.

Surprisingly good

I went into this book not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. This well written tale of an author with mind block who writes a ‘blank’ book is fantastic. Definitely worth the read/listen.

Great read

I really enjoyed this book. Very real and fun characters. Can’t wait to read more of Owen’s books.

Total Cliche-Strewn Beach Read

If you’re seeking pure FLUFF with a guaranteed and unrealistic happy ending, here’s a winner.

If you prefer quality writing free of cliches, eye-rolling storylines, and a cast of predictable characters, move on.

If you listen to this story on Audible, prepare to become annoyed almost immediately by the performer’s voice as she switches from character to character, using a range of voices that are almost as bad as the characters themselves - her efforts with the male voices is particularly grating.

Written for Chardonnay-drinking soccer moms…

Disappointing. Characters are cliché, superficial, and the plot wraps up remarkably fast and with seemingly rapid emotional resolution. It’s a nice light beach read, but not much else. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters, their actions seemed silly and their relationships predictably bad, based on the lack of moral fiber and backbone they exhibited from the first page. Perhaps a good reflection of life in LA - hopefully not. If meant as a satire, meh… not well delivered. If meant as a sympathetic commentary on life for middle-aged women with teenaged kids in a social media-dominated world, meh… boring…
Performance note: all the “men” voices sound creepy, even the ones for characters we are supposed to like.

Good ending

It started out slow but was surprisingly good at the end. I love the meaning at the end.

Finished better than it started

When I first started reading/ this book listening to this book it just annoyed the crap out of me how annoying her children were and how she kowtowed to them and how this is what's wrong with America today etc. But I hung in there and finished the book and I was extremely glad I did. When a cleverly crafted and delightful book it was. It was also fun reading it in the lead up to Passover as this is about a Jewish family with the son becoming bar mitzvah and the dog named Dayenu and Friday night shabots. It did remind me a little bit of an old time silent movie where you want to cheer the heroes and boo the villains and hiss at the evil doers. I do feel like I know many of the characters in this book from my real life with my real life family. It was a great way to end the month of March!