What do you think?
Rate this book
Getting the Electric
Not yet published
Expected 30 Apr 26Are you ready to play?
Have you ever found yourself doom-scrolling, worrying about that weird pain in your leg, only to have your plans for the day completely trashed by the appearance of a literal axe-wielding troll?
What about that time you came across a perfect double of yourself in the street?
Or the gorilla suit you put on one day only for it to fuse with your skin?
When those children went missing from your village, did you know for sure it was the electricity that took them?
And down in the basement of your ancestral family home, what is it that’s making that THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
Bold, funny, and wild, Louise Hegarty’s debut collection will turn you upside down and inside out, if it doesn’t take you apart completely.
Have you ever found yourself doom-scrolling, worrying about that weird pain in your leg, only to have your plans for the day completely trashed by the appearance of a literal axe-wielding troll?
What about that time you came across a perfect double of yourself in the street?
Or the gorilla suit you put on one day only for it to fuse with your skin?
When those children went missing from your village, did you know for sure it was the electricity that took them?
And down in the basement of your ancestral family home, what is it that’s making that THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
Bold, funny, and wild, Louise Hegarty’s debut collection will turn you upside down and inside out, if it doesn’t take you apart completely.
- GenresFiction
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 30, 2026
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Have you ever found yourself doom-scrolling, worrying about that weird pain in your leg, only to have your plans for the day completely trashed by the appearance of a literal axe-wielding troll?
What about that time you came across a perfect double of yourself in the street?
Or the gorilla suit you put on one day only for it to fuse with your skin?
When those children went missing from your village, did you know for sure it was the electricity that took them?
And down in the basement of your ancestral family home, what is it that’s making that THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
I was gifted an ARC from NetGalley with just one short story, 'If'. It brilliantly describes someone who just can't concentrate and is constantly distracted by social media - in other words it describes a percentage of our population and it does so via the medium of an old-style text computer game. A good read and I'll look forward to reading more when the book is published.
What about that time you came across a perfect double of yourself in the street?
Or the gorilla suit you put on one day only for it to fuse with your skin?
When those children went missing from your village, did you know for sure it was the electricity that took them?
And down in the basement of your ancestral family home, what is it that’s making that THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
I was gifted an ARC from NetGalley with just one short story, 'If'. It brilliantly describes someone who just can't concentrate and is constantly distracted by social media - in other words it describes a percentage of our population and it does so via the medium of an old-style text computer game. A good read and I'll look forward to reading more when the book is published.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Note: I only read the short story "If" from this collection as an ARC.
Told with an interesting technique, "If" narrates the mundane and bleak everyday life of an unnamed narrator who spends too much time on their phone and might be hypochondriac, or maybe not.
The story is relatable and a bit sad, as the writing technique highlights every time this person picks up their phone to do nothing. It made me aware of how many times I do the same during the day 😅
I really liked that the story is told as if it was an old text-based computer RPG, where the player would write the action they wanted to make, and the computer then describes the outcome of that action.
This is my first time reading something from this author and I found it interesting and intriguing!
Thanks to Picador via NetGalley for providing an eARC
Told with an interesting technique, "If" narrates the mundane and bleak everyday life of an unnamed narrator who spends too much time on their phone and might be hypochondriac, or maybe not.
The story is relatable and a bit sad, as the writing technique highlights every time this person picks up their phone to do nothing. It made me aware of how many times I do the same during the day 😅
I really liked that the story is told as if it was an old text-based computer RPG, where the player would write the action they wanted to make, and the computer then describes the outcome of that action.
This is my first time reading something from this author and I found it interesting and intriguing!
Thanks to Picador via NetGalley for providing an eARC
February 24, 2026
✨ 4.75 (round up)
“it felt like they didn’t need sustenance they were sustaining themselves”
If you enjoy inventive storytelling devices and techniques, then this is the book for you!
Each chapter is its own short story and every single one is told in such a unique way, and it worked so well.
Of course, as with every collection, I enjoyed some more than others, but Hegarty has such a great way with words that this had me enraptured throughout.
This does cover a LOT of very heavy and potentially triggering topics, so I recommend checking out the trigger warnings before you dive in.
Thank you so much to Book Break UK and Picador for this stunning ARC. Getting The Electric is out on May 28th.
“it felt like they didn’t need sustenance they were sustaining themselves”
If you enjoy inventive storytelling devices and techniques, then this is the book for you!
Each chapter is its own short story and every single one is told in such a unique way, and it worked so well.
Of course, as with every collection, I enjoyed some more than others, but Hegarty has such a great way with words that this had me enraptured throughout.
This does cover a LOT of very heavy and potentially triggering topics, so I recommend checking out the trigger warnings before you dive in.
Thank you so much to Book Break UK and Picador for this stunning ARC. Getting The Electric is out on May 28th.
Read
March 11, 2026This was actually a sampler from the upcoming short story collection Getting the Electric by Louise Hegarty.
As such, I can only comment on the story ‘If’ featured here. I’m happy to report that it was a banger, as the kids say — definitely a four-star story.
Told in the format of a retro Dungeons & Dragons-style video game, ‘If’ follows an unnamed, phone-addicted hypochondriac as they go about their days. There’s a striking sense of bubbling panic beneath the prose, which I really enjoyed.
Original and well crafted. I’d happily pick up more by the author based on this.
With thanks to Pan Macmillan for the ARC.
As such, I can only comment on the story ‘If’ featured here. I’m happy to report that it was a banger, as the kids say — definitely a four-star story.
Told in the format of a retro Dungeons & Dragons-style video game, ‘If’ follows an unnamed, phone-addicted hypochondriac as they go about their days. There’s a striking sense of bubbling panic beneath the prose, which I really enjoyed.
Original and well crafted. I’d happily pick up more by the author based on this.
With thanks to Pan Macmillan for the ARC.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews