I love Sara Cox, and this book had so much of her warmth and wit in it that it was impossible not to enjoy it. Set within a pottery class and following the lives of the women outside it, we're taken on a journey of friendship and in some ways rediscovery of the things that are important. Loved it!!
Thanks to Sarah Cox, the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Wow who knew that Sara Cox from BBC Radio 2 could write? Absolutely fantastic debut novel.
The book focuses on three women from different background, different ages, different stages of their life but form a friendship after signing up for a new pottery class at the ;local community centre.

Becky who runs the community centre and has helped set up the pottery class who is single mum to her almost grown up teenage gay son. Father of said son is trouble with a capital T and currently at Her Majesties Pleasure.

Jameela, a fitness fanatic, tries her best at everything including her job and her marriage but is fighting a battle that evolves around her husband, her sister and her desire to start a family.

Sheila, who is at the other end of life with her children grown up and dreams of life abroad with her husband. Her husband somehow seems distracted but Sheila can't quite put her finger on it. Her mother in law is very ill and has never really seen eye to eye with Sheila but does she know something?

Louise who seemingly has the perfect life and she knows this but looking for something more, unfortunately she doesn't quite know what.

These women know of one another as they all live in Inventor's Housing Estate but don't really know each other. They each turn up to the first pottery session put on at the local community centre and their lives intertwine with the friendships they develop. This is very much a story of female friendships, with likeable and believable characters. My favorite genre of women's fiction.

With thanks to #NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this preview read of #Thrown

A promising debut novel from Sarah Cox. In the main a lighthearted read with some serious themes woven in. One for the beach that will leave you with some warm fuzzies and good memories of some nice characters.

This was a cozy duvet day sort of read that centres around trust, loneliness, motherhood and friendship. Fun and heartwarming in all the right places with a bit of gritty realism thrown in to keep it from being too unbelievable.

Thrown is a heartbreaking but lovely read about friendship. If you love pottery and stories that pack an emotional punch then this one for you.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set around a group of four women who attend a pottery class in their local community centre. This is a great light-hearted read for summer, relatable characters and a plot that keeps moving.

A book to make you smile, laugh and cry at the same time. What wonderful people brought together by a love of being creative and wanting to try something new - pottery! Sara deals with complex situations with kindness and fun at the same time. Sensitive issues are spoken about and dealt with gently and with no finger pointing.

I thought this was a sweet if predictable story. Set in a small town full of gossip locals join a pottery group and discover more about each other.

The story of four women who live in the same town and meet at the local pottery club. They start to form a strong bond and try to sort each other’s troubled lives out.

This is a lovely, lighthearted story about love, friendship and the art of moulding clay. It’s very much a character based book and what a wonderfully diverse bunch they are! Life would never be boring having this lot as neighbours. I enjoyed following each woman’s journey. I loved the descriptions of pottery making and it did make me want to search for a local group and get throwing. It’s an easy, humorous and engaging read but with some serious threads running through it. It’s bound to appeal to many readers.

In found this book a disappointment. Maybe the expectations were too high with this being a debut and Sara Cox being well known. I found it over ambitious. All the characters stories were linked to a male in someway. I feel that there was possibly a list of what to include to be diverse, but it missed the mark. This book was not for me unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy of the book

I found this book disappointing it was like I want to write a book what shall I add in there domestic abuse, drug trafficking, cross dressing that will make it interesting. But it didn't.

A great book
A good holiday read
The book really flows and all the characters are relatable
Thanks NetGalley

To be honest Sara had A LOT to live up too. A self-confessed book lover and presenter of ‘Under the Covers’ on the BBC. This a sweet book, but it slightly missed the mark for me and is never going to become a ‘classic’.

It tells a story from four different characters perspectives and is essentially a feel good book about friendships, relationships and community spirit.

It was too predictable – I could spot a couple of the plot ‘twists’ pretty early on but then some characters were resolved nicely and others’ situations seemed too open-ended. There are flashes of Sara’s trademark cheeky humour in the book but not enough to save it for me.

This book had the potential to be much more. I felt the characters were pretty undercooked and the story pretty basic. Three of the women thought their husbands were cheating on them and I just felt that this was a fairly tired and predictable theme particularly three times in the one book!

Do you know when a book just leaves you feeling ‘meh’? I was worth picking it up, but you wouldn’t pass it on or read it again.

I am a big fan of Sara Cox’s BBC show Between The Covers, where she discusses books with celebrity guests. I had no idea that she was writing a novel until I saw it on NetGalley, so you can imagine my excitement at being accepted for it!

The community centre is a far cry from the exciting hub that single mum Becky remembers it being when her mum was in charge. So she sets up a pottery class to bring locals together again. Sheila’s children have left home and she wants to move somewhere warmer but her husband Martin seems to have other things on his mind. Jameela has a loving husband, excellent career but life just won’t seem to give her what she wants -a baby. Louise has a very happy family life but she can’t help but want something more. So, when the handsome, charming pottery teacher Sasha walks in on the first day of the new pottery class, heads are turned, connections are formed and all four women are about to discover that beautiful things can be made from an ordinary lump of clay.

One thing that Cox does really well is capture the eccentricity of British village life. Having grown up in a quite affluent suburb with a village-esque vibe, I know that these people exist and I could easily picture them as the neighbours that I saw every day as a child.

The humour is excellent too and I loved how it gave me a glimpse into the author’s imagination. I can think of so many middle-aged women who would love some husband replacement therapy on reaching their last tether! I laughed so many times and it was a really lovely way to get to know the characters.

I felt much the same about the pottery class novel ‘Thrown’ by Sara Cox as I did about Channel Fours The Great Pottery Throwdown i.e. very enjoyable warm, cosy and leaves you feeling good.
The story concerns the pottery class that Becky arranges at the Lennington Community Centre for the locals. The story follows Becky and a number of the characters that attend the course. The friendships and troubled relationships of the group form a number of plot lines which all reach a satisfactory conclusion.
I found it an easy enjoyable light hearted read that would make it a good summer read.

What a fab book! I really enjoyed the story of Becky, the manager of the Lennington community centre and the locals that signed up for the pottery classes Becky took a chance on setting up. Not only do you get to enjoy their weekly classes with them (and learn some more about pottery, which I so want to try now!) but also to find out all about what the neighbours are going through in the personal lives. Friendships and relationships are formed at the community centre, marriages put to the test with discoveries made and new opportunities sought…..and maybe achieved (you’re going to have to read it to find out!!).

I loved all the characters (well, maybe not the ‘baddy’ but you have to have one of those, don’t you!) and was so pleased things ended how I hoped for all those lovely people. I could hear Sara, the author, when reading this book and absolutely love her style of writing. It was easy to read and she had some great turn of phrases. I am definitely going to look out for other stories by her.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.

Great feel good holiday read.

The characters are well done and believable, the pottery angle gives it a little bit of a difference and the humour kept it alive.

Well executed, exactly what it says on the tin.

Hmm, a bit predictable but a lovely light summer read. The characters are a cast of usual suspects, some with secrets and some with hidden backstories and desires.
It moved along well and has a good pace but I guessed the ending about a quarter of the way in and then it became a trot-through rather than a page-turner.

This was a fun and lighthearted read for the most part with a few stronger issues that are tackled within the strory. I wasn't sure what to expect but this is a great debut novel from Sara that I really enjoyed.