Beatrice Prior had to be the child that stayed after Caleb left her family for Erudite. Her initiation lasts only a week so her family can recover the loss of Caleb and cope with Erudite's reports. However, when she goes to the train tracks to think about the life she could have had, she meets Four , who gives her an irresistible offer: To be who she wants to become-Dauntless.

William Herondale is the prince of Idris. His parents want him to marry someone he absolutely hates against his own will. Will escapes from the life he had known for freedom, only to find himself lost and abandoned. Unexpectedly, he is soon under the care of a commoner, Tessa Gray. Could she show him a new side of life? Could this girl change everything that Will had ever known?