"Love Under Voltage" by Asya Lavrinovich, summary Automatic translate

Asya Lavrinovich’s novel, published in 2019, centers on student Lera Zhuravleva, whose life is dramatically changed by an accident on a rooftop and the subsequent ability to hear others’ thoughts. The story is driven not by external intrigue, but by the heroine’s inner transformation: self-confidence, irritation, and the habit of thinking only about herself gradually give way to a sober perspective on those close to her and her own actions.

Before the storm

At the beginning of the book, Lera is portrayed as a spoiled, sarcastic, and rather lazy second-year law student who frequently skips classes and readily lies to both her mother and teachers. The very first scenes emphasize the consistency of her character: her mother recalls a childhood photo of Lera with a teddy bear and the time she got into a fight over a toy in kindergarten, and even as an adult, Lera behaves as if everyone should always give in to her.

She’s irritated by class monitor Korobaynikova, who reports absences to the supervisor, is rude to her classmates, and easily lashes out in backbiting. Lera is almost equally harsh with children: at the metro, she first brushes off an insolent beggar, then flees from a whole group of street kids he sets on her. At home, she faces similar irritation: the neighbor girl, Zlata, reaches out to her, tries to talk and play, but Lera reacts coldly and almost cruelly.

Lera’s relationship with her mother has long been strained. Her mother demands order, monitors her daughter’s studies, and grows tired of the constant lies, and Lera responds with resentment and rude outbursts related to her father’s absence. Meanwhile, Lera dreams of a completely different world — of the high life, parties, expensive clothes, and the attention of fashionable people, especially her neighbor Regina, whom she clearly emulates.

Valya Zlobinets, Lera’s best friend, figures prominently in the early chapters. Kind, anxious, superstitious, and very impractical, Valya works part-time, constantly moves, and endures everyday inconveniences, while Lera uses her notes and doesn’t always reciprocate with the same concern. When Regina invites Lera to a party, Valya tries to stop her, citing the new moon and an unfavorable day, but Lera prefers a trip to the rooftop to the promised help with the move.

Rooftop Party

Lera goes to the party hoping to get close to Red, a handsome and popular guy from her department who drives a black Dodge and has long captured her imagination. Even on the way there and on the rooftop itself, it’s clear she’s going not out of interest in people, but out of a desire to be in good company and be noticed.

There, Lera meets a tall, fair-haired man in a black polo shirt who helps her climb out the hatch onto the roof. She mistakes him for a maintenance worker and unceremoniously hands him her trench coat. He’s Ivan, though Lera doesn’t yet understand who he is. It later turns out that Ivan was the one organizing the party, and Red is his close friend.

The party itself quickly proves a disappointment for Lera. Red approaches her, hands her a cocktail, and asks her to dance, but is almost immediately distracted by other girls, leaving Lera alone on the roof, angry and humiliated. Amid a thunderstorm, wind, and mounting anxiety, she decides to leave, but in the darkness, she steps into a puddle of broken light bulbs, grabs a string of lights, and receives a powerful electric shock. Her former life ends there.

After the blow

Waking up at home, Lera initially feels only pain, weakness, and a strange hum, similar to a helipad. She soon realizes she’s not hearing sounds from outside, but someone else’s thoughts. A new gift comes to her suddenly and almost immediately transforms from a strange curiosity into a severe ordeal.

With this ability, Lera begins to see those around her without their usual masks. She hears that her mother isn’t just controlling her, but is constantly worried, tired, and genuinely afraid for her daughter. She recognizes how hurt Valya is, how much fatigue and loneliness has accumulated within her, even though her friend rarely complains out loud. At university, Lera reads the minds of her professors and realizes that they truly consider her an irresponsible and shallow student.

Her interest in Red is crumbling especially painfully. While he once seemed brilliant and almost unattainable, his inner world now reveals itself to be poor, narcissistic, and superficial. Lera increasingly sees the difference between outward appearance and human essence, and this observation applies not only to Red, but also to Regina and many others in her circle.

Ivan and Lera’s Change

Almost immediately after the accident, Ivan reappears in her life, this time at university. He turns out to be a student of their ilk, sits next to Lera in class, and behaves calmly, ironically, and kindly. Their first conversations are full of awkwardness, jokes, and mutual curiosity, and one of the most memorable scenes revolves around Lera, trying to overcome her embarrassment, suddenly mentioning black underwear, and Ivan picking up on this awkward topic and turning it into a joke.

Ivan gradually becomes the kind of person Lera doesn’t have to pretend to be. He sees her harshness, narcissism, and outbursts of anger, but he doesn’t play on them or flatter her. At the same time, he helps her when she truly needs it: he talks to her without pressure, supports her, walks her home, and shoulders the burden of everyday trivialities that suddenly become far from trivial for Lera.

Their walk is especially meaningful after Lera gets a flat tire and her phone dies during an evening bike ride. Ivan meets her by the embankment, fixes what he can, laces her sneakers, pushes his bike alongside, and walks her home. Along the way, Lera talks about Mallorca, the sea, hot chocolate buns, and the life she’d like to experience someday, and Ivan simply listens and walks alongside her. It’s in scenes like these that a genuine intimacy blossoms between them.

At the same time, Lera herself is changing. Other people’s thoughts no longer allow her to live peacefully in her old way, and she’s gradually learning to notice others’ pain before her own irritation. She helps Valya move, takes her studies more seriously, stops viewing her mother as an enemy, and begins to understand how much unspoken love and fatigue lies behind their daily arguments. Even toward Zlata and the other children, she’s already softer than she was at first.

The finale

Gradually, the ability to read minds begins to weaken. The hum of helicopters in her head grows quieter, and then disappears completely, and with it goes the supernatural advantage that at first seemed almost omnipotent. For Lera, this is no longer a loss, because the main change by this time has occurred within her.

In the final chapters, she takes exams, studies hard, and tries to cope independently, without resorting to tricks or her previous carelessness. Ivan remains by her side, supporting her without doing her work, and their bond grows stronger. By the novel’s conclusion, they emerge as a couple who have gone through mutual recognition and inner work, not through a random romantic outburst.

The epilogue transports the characters to Mallorca, which Lera once dreamed of during an evening stroll. Now she and Ivan are husband and wife, relaxing by the sea, arguing about their daily plans, joking, and declaring their love. At the very end of the book, the helicopter hum returns: Lera briefly hears Ivan’s thoughts again, but this time it doesn’t frighten her, because she knows how he feels, even without any special gift. The story ends with a declaration of love and the feeling that the heroine has finally grown up, learned to see real people around her, and is able to reciprocate their warmth.