"Over the Pieces of Your Heart" by Anna Jane, summary Automatic translate

This book is an emotionally charged story about overcoming loss, published in 2022. It is a profound exploration of teenage trauma through the lens of first love and criminal intrigue.

The plot begins with a description of Polina Tumanova’s profound emotional turmoil. Exactly three years have passed since Dima Barsov’s tragic accident. Everyone around him believes him dead. Polina struggles to cope with the loss. The pain of loss breaks her from the inside. This pain forces Polina to become a completely different person. She radically changes her lifestyle. She actively engages in motocross. The sheer speed of the track helps Polina, at least temporarily, numb her emotional wounds. Speed saves her from depressing thoughts. She gets several tattoos. These designs on her skin become a kind of anchor for her. An anchor that forever connects her to Dima and her late father. Polina’s character visibly hardens. She learns to be as independent as possible. She regularly attends grueling self-defense training. Physical activity allows her to release her pent-up aggression. Polina sublimates her emotions through sports. The sadness in the heart does not subside, despite the outward display of strength.

Polina’s family relationships are in complete disarray. She becomes increasingly distant from her biological mother. Social isolation, a conscious withdrawal from communication with loved ones, becomes her defense mechanism. Her mother settles down with a man named Andrei. They soon have a son together. The mother almost completely forgets about her eldest daughter. Polina feels abandoned. She realizes her loneliness. Now she can only rely on herself. She tries to distance herself from family conflicts, concentrating exclusively on her studies and training. Polina avoids new romantic attachments. The memory of Dima blocks all attempts to let another person into her life.

Suddenly, something unexpected happens. An event that completely changes the usual course of events. Polina accidentally finds herself in a dangerous situation on an evening street. An aggressive red-haired guy and his friends brazenly accost her. The situation quickly escalates. The heroine prepares to give the hooligans a firm fight. She plans to put her acquired self-defense skills to use. Suddenly, a commanding male voice is heard nearby. The unknown savior peremptorily orders the hooligans to retreat immediately. The red-haired guy is frightened and releases Polina. Polina looks up and freezes in extreme shock. Before her stands a very real Dima Barsov. The guy is alive and completely healthy. Dima has matured and become even more attractive. Unspent tenderness is visible in his gaze.

The meeting of the two heroes is filled with mixed, heartbreaking emotions. Polina experiences incredible joy, bordering on hysteria. At the same time, she feels a burning resentment and intense anger. Cognitive dissonance arises. Simply put, her brain refuses to believe that what is happening is real. Dima tries to rationalize the reasons for his cruel act. It turns out that three years ago, Dima was forced to carefully fake his own death. He urgently needed to escape dangerous criminal networks. The criminals seriously threatened Polina’s safety. Dima chose separation to save the life of his beloved. Saving Polina became his absolute priority.

Before his apparent disappearance, Dima sent Polina a detailed email. In the text, he explained the real situation in detail. He asked Polina to wait for his return. The message never reached its intended recipient. Their mutual friend, Igor, treacherously intercepted this important message. Igor deliberately decided to hide the bitter truth from Polina. For all those long three years, Dima remained firmly convinced that Polina had rejected him. He thought she had read the message and simply didn’t want to wait for him. Dima suffered from the thought that his beloved had rejected him. Polina, meanwhile, sincerely mourned Dima all this time. She regularly brought fresh flowers to his empty grave.

Polina very slowly and painfully realizes the guy’s true motives. Broken trust is extremely difficult to restore. The heroes begin to rebuild interpersonal communication. Simply put, they learn to talk to each other again. They spend a lot of free time together. They stroll around the city and have heart-to-heart conversations. Old feelings flare up with a new, uncontrollable force. Dima surrounds Polina with sincere care and constant attention. The guy tries his best to atone for the deep guilt he caused her. Polina gradually thaws. She allows herself to trust Dima again.

A new, serious threat appears on the horizon in the form of Ruslan. Ruslan is a young, wealthy man of eighteen or nineteen years old. Ruslan is Andrey’s biological son and Sasha’s half-brother. He studies at the local university. He is very wealthy and sports a trendy undercut haircut. He has several tattoos. Ruslan is obsessively obsessed with Polina. He is characterized by extreme cynicism and unjustified cruelty towards others. Soon, terrible secrets from his recent past are revealed. Ruslan cynically confesses to his crimes. It was he who orchestrated the brutal psychological bullying of Polina at school three years ago.

Ruslan deliberately sought revenge on Polina out of pathological jealousy toward his father, Andrei. Andrei devoted too much of his free time and attention to Polina’s family, to the direct detriment of his own son. Ruslan fiercely hated Polina for this. He systematically tried to ruin her peaceful life. Ruslan tried with all his might to destroy her romantic relationship with Dima. Dima boldly defended Polina from Ruslan’s persecution. An open and very violent conflict erupts between the two men. Ruslan openly threatens the lovers with physical violence. Dima uses all his accumulated criminal connections and resources to quickly resolve this problem. Dima clearly demonstrates to Ruslan his true strength and complete superiority. Ruslan is forced to cowardly retreat, leaving Polina alone.

At the same time, Polina learns the bitter truth about Igor’s betrayal. Igor acknowledges his grave guilt. He sincerely apologizes to the girl he deceived. Polina finds the moral strength to forgive some people from her painful past. Forgiveness becomes an important step in separating herself from old traumas. With other offenders, she forever severs all social ties. Polina ruthlessly erases them from her renewed life. The heroine finally matures. She learns to let go of old grievances. She learns to forgive human weaknesses. Polina and Dima’s relationship becomes truly strong. It becomes absolutely unbreakable. The lovers successfully overcome all mutual grievances and minor misunderstandings.

Dima makes Polina an incredibly romantic proposal. He asks her to become his lawful wife. Polina happily accepts. They celebrate a beautiful wedding with their closest friends. After the lavish celebration, the newlyweds depart on their long-awaited honeymoon. The book’s final scene depicts Polina and Dima flying together on a passenger jet. The lovers hold hands tightly. Polina smiles sincerely and brightly. She feels absolutely happy and completely protected. She philosophically reflects on how airplanes always take off directly into the wind. It is precisely air resistance that allows them to fly so much better. Polina compares her complex relationship with Dima to such a difficult flight. Together, the couple confidently soars toward their happy future. They leave all their troubles and the sharp fragments of the past far behind them.