An enjoyable read, though I didn't get as invested as I hoped in any of the characters. But would still recommend.

A fun and witty story from Sara Cox, about the power of community and female friendships. The book has a real heart and message, and is deeper than the impression you might get from the synopsis. Sara has been one of my favourite presenters for years and this is a fab first novel, highly recommend for a feel good read with depth.

Strong female fiction is hard to write and then to deliver to a world where when you are well known is going to get picked apart and analysed. Do you know what? Sara Cox has not just made a good job of it – she has made an excellent job. I felt I was reading a story from author with years of experience behind her, not a debut novelist.

Becky works in the community centre, she is determined to get back to being the heart of the community that she remembers when she was smaller and her mum worked there. It is the place she seeks solace, as a single mum with a son on the brink of adulthood, she does not need any distractions. Well not ex partners that is for sure.

Shelia’s son has flown the nest, she is lost and wants to retire to a life in Spain, her husband has other ideas and seems to be withdrawing inside himself.

Jameela seems an unlikely friendship for Shelia, but a chance encounter brings them together. Jameela sees this a chance to escape from what she wants most in the world, but seems to be alluding her.

Louise thinks her life is just boring, plodding through she wants to find the person she once was before, marriage, children and domesticity came along.

All of these women are thrown (see what I did there!) together when they come together at the new pottery class at the community centre. As they forget their troubles, they make new friends, hear new life stories and learn a skill to take them away from their current thoughts. If there was ever a advert for crafting in whatever form to take you away from it all this is it.

Just like life, the pottery doesn’t always turn out like people want it to, but learning to love the cracks in life, the flaws in others and the decorations that make us all up means that we can embrace anything and everything.

If you are a fan of women’s fiction with strong characters and with some difficult topics covered in such a delicate and thoughtful way then this book is for you. I would like to go back to these characters if Sara Cox would oblige, but if not then if the next book is going to be as strong as this, it will be a runaway bestseller.

Loved this book. The way the characters stand on their own bit are also woven together through the classes. A couple of loose ends I would like to have been tidied up rather than just hinted at but overall was a really enjoyable read.

Thrown by Sara Cox
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: 12/5/22

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m a huge fan of Sara Cox so was delighted to be accepted to read this novel. It’s everything you’d expect from her, warmth, wit, heart, plus great observation & wordplay.

I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This story ambles along slowly giving you more information but creating other mystery.
The characters are okay bur I didn't find myself rooting for any of them to have a specific outcome.

I was sent a copy of Thrown by Sara Cox to read and review by NetGalley. This is a great read about a community of people ‘Thrown’ together by joining the beginner’s pottery class of the book’s title. The characters are well drawn and believable, each with their own issues which they tentatively share with their new friends. There is laughter and tears throughout the novel and some quite poignant moments, but the greatest feat is that it made me want to rush out and join a pottery class myself! I’m hoping that we will meet this motley crew again some time in the not too distant future!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows the life’s of 4 women who attend a local community centre for a pottery class. Despite some difficult subject matter, it was a light hearted and fast paced read. There was one ‘plot point’ that was slightly repeated it felt which took a little away from the story for me.

However, I enjoyed this story and would definitely read another Sara Cox book

An enjoyable read for Sara Cox’s debut novel. Set around the lives of 4 women who all come together because of a pottery class at the community centre. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t blown away by it.

Thrown is full of heart and is unputdownable!
This is an excellent debut in terms of writing fiction. I must say, the calibre of writing style and plot is excellent and it's highly engrossing with entertaining pockets of humour.

Set between an estate and a pottery class, there are some wonderfully absorbing characters to meet. It  captured my heart from the start. It's heartwarming and delving deeper, so keenly observed. It's pretty hard to put down once you've picked this book up, it's fabulous for some escapism, with characters who are easy to get drawn into.

Gorgeously, the chapters alternate between Becky, Louise, Jameela and Sheila. Readers can really get to know them and their friendships and that between Jameela and Sheila is particulary lovely. Louise is also a good character to get to know, bit biased I guess, since it's my own name, but honestly, without bias, she is, with her attitude and relationship issues as it's easy to look on and reckon she has it all, but all isn't quite like that. I love her determination to carry on in the face of adversity when things in the job hunt aren't quite all going to plan.
Becky knows all too well how relationships can be and her strong independent attitude really comes through.

There's also elements of sadness to tug at the heartstrings, as Martin is introduced. His mum has dementia. The portrayal of him is seeringly accurate and emotional.

At the pottery class there are trials and tribulations as things get a little fraught to say the least in the arty, creative bubble, as well as the forging of friendships.

I highly recommend Thrown and I am absolutely now hoping that Sara Cox writes another book.

This is a great debut novel from Sara Cox, a warm and friendly story of friendship, love, loss and survival.
The characters are all very relateable and likeable. It is a bit of a "happy ever after" ending, but we all need a bit of this in our lives at times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Thrown.

Laugh out loud funny!! That is the best way to describe this book it honestly had me laughing in places. Becky is the community centre manager who decides to start a pottery class and oh boy what an eclectic group of people come together.
What I loved though was that Cox also melted real life issues in with it. Abusive relationships, infertility, LGBTQ, and so much more, she showed that no matter what we never really know what is going on behind closed doors.

A warm, feel good read. Well rounded characters - reflected modern estate living, people are looking out for each other but not openly as in the past, and while they're thinking they're keeping to themselves. Becky is managing the community centre and trying to breathe new life into the place. She's managed to get a grant for equipment and someone to lead a pottery class. This catches the imagination of the community and brings people together. I loved the snippets of their lives and feeling involved. such a lovely groups of people. When Becky's violent ex comes back she finds that she has friends she didn't realise. A heartwarming read. #netgalley #thrown

Really enjoyed this story. The characters were well drawn and relateable. I particularly like the fact some of the characters were over forty as well.

A great read. Recommend.

Sara Cox's personality and voice shone through the pages. At times I could almost hear her narrating the story! For a debut novel she has done well creating both likeable and despicable characters and many readers will enjoy the warmth of the community of Lennington, where the story is set.

The plot centres around the lives of 4 women at various stages of life and the ups and downs they experience. They meet, united by the gorgeous pottery teacher, Sasha, at a new pottery course at the community centre.
There is lots of interesting detail about pottery and the process of making and creating.

For me, this book was just a little 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. It was overall a 3.5/5 from my point of view.

An enjoyable and easy read involving a group of women living in a local community. The main character is Becky who sets up a pottery class in the community centre.

Such an enjoyable easy read. I have read several thrillers recently and so it was lovely to just enjoy the characters and the friendship of this group of women.
Excellent characterisation brought these women to life and I felt like I knew them all well by the end of the book. The pottery references were interesting and not overwhelming.
You never know what is happening behind the closed doors of your neighbours so this book was very believable and entertaining, The outcomes were fairly predictable but no less entertaining for that.
I would be happy to recommend this book to my friends.

Thrown tells us the story of four women Becky, Louise, Jameela and Sheila who all live on the Inventor’s Housing Estate. As manager of the local community centre, Becky is constantly looking for new ways to bring the community together and to also raise vital funds to keep the centre open. The new pottery class draws all four women together, and we get to peek behind the net curtains of their homes and their lives.

As they work the clay into vases and pots, we discover what made these women come to the classes…whether it be heartache, secrets or relationships that have lost their spark.

As a debut novel, I thought this was amazing and, on many occasions, I heard her voice in my head so it really felt like she put a lot of herself onto the pages. The characters were interesting, warm and friendly – although sometimes I thought Sheila was a little bitchy to Louise but I soon got over that the occasional barbed comment!

I’ve never done pottery, and so was concerned before I read the book that I wouldn’t understand some of the terminology but Sasha, the pottery teacher in the book, taught me alongside his literary class members and it’s now made me want to run down to Hobbycraft and grab some clay!!

I loved this so much, that I had to ration my reading of it, as I didn’t want it to end. Please don’t let this be the last we hear of Becky, Louise, Jameela and Sheila?!

I should add that I worked at Radio 2 and met Sara on occasions, however this review is a completely honest one.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book howeverI did really enjoy it.

It was a little slow at the start introducing the charaters but I really liked them and I thought it was a nice story.

A lovely summer read

This was an easy, light hearted read. Mostly predictable. Possibly more interesting to those interested in pottery, which admittedly, I’m not!

Not really my cup of tea!

My thanks go to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.