Puberty can be a scary time for the youth in Eradeem. Breasts are developing, hair is showing up in strange places, voices are deepening, and unsightly, gray vine-like markings called Abnormal manifest over the body. Yet for 14-year-old Mae, Abnormal hasn't happened. Could it be from the stress of last year? First, her grandfather's controversial research on the existence of stars landed him in prison; then she witnessed her mom's Abnormal getting out of control - changing her into something not human.

Mae seeks answers as she ventures to where her grandfather conducted his research, as strange floating lanterns lead her to a shepherd named Lev, revealing the unfathomable truth about Eradeem and the Abnormal. After Mae mysteriously awakens in her bedroom, she wonders if it was all a dream. But how could it be if she's been missing for hours?

Her disappearance garners the attention of higher authorities, and she is taken to an institution with other misfit children to be re-educated. Alone on an emotional battlefield, should she accept that her grandpa's insanity isn't too far from her own and submit to rehabilitation? Or will she embrace the overwhelming evidence confirming everything she's ever believed, risking it all?