This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Kate Tempest is a London-based performance poet. Even on the page her poem Let Them Eat Chaos sings forth its sounds, its quiet despairs and allusions. If you read this silently, you'll find yourself re-reading sections out loud for the pleasure and strength of the words.
The moods of Let Them Eat Chaos vary, as it portrays the 7 people awake on a London street at 4:18 am, but it is a call to action in life. Highly recommend. I received an electronic review copy of this short book - love it so much I'm going to buy a paper copy I can share.

A blistering polemic on the state of the "United" Kingdom using the stories of 7 strangers awake in London at 04.18 on a stormy night to highlight the isolated lives people lead. The small ray of hope is that they all go outside when the storm breaks and there is the possibility of connection and communication. I haven't heard Tempest perform her work but read the poem aloud to myself and felt her anger and despairing question "what we gonna do to wake up" and realise what we are doing to the planet and each other. Tough read but worth it.

I thought this was a stunning piece of work. The connection I felt with the seven people within just a few lines was amazing, but I also loved the message of the poem, and the exploration of today's society and the way the despair we can feel from the news can affect everyone. Brilliant.

I received this in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Kate Tempest, and the publisher, Picador, for this opportunity.

There is a raw power in this piece that drew me in from the very first line. The focus is on a freeze-frame of time. Our omniscient and omnipresent protagonist in a nameless and faceless entity swooping into London, from above. Seven individuals are chosen, seemingly at random, and their innermost thoughts, desires and fears are laid bare for the reader to dissect. We grow to see that these individuals are linked by more than their geographic situation. They are linked by their dissatisfaction with life. And so are we all.

From Brexit, to consumerism, to the divided opinions over the stay of illegal immigrants in Britain, Tempest does not shy away from the current political problems plaguing our contemporary times. And she does so by using these seven individuals as the figureheads for divided opinion. The discourse may be difficult to read, on times, with its brutal honesty and obliteration of political correctness, but it is a powerful and original depiction of the 21st Century.

These words might be inspired from the city, but they speak on a global scale. Much can be gathered and learned from this piece, no matter of the reader's culture, society or viewpoint on the topics discussed. This acts as a wake-up call for more than the seven unhappy individuals. The reader, too, is invited to shake themselves free from the drudgery and montony of modern living and to see it, and themselves, for what and who they truly are.

Gripping, powerful, and poignant; Tempest has undoubtedly found a new fan in me!