Florida, 1997. Mallory Thatcher is an honor student who has suffered relentless bullying, resulting in horrific nightmares, and is scarred by a terrifying incident. A battle with her mind leads to the formation of an alter ego, which she turns to for protection and strength for which her real-world guardians failed to provide. Her life was spent running and defending herself, living in isolation and in the shadow of the past. Two years later, her family relocates to Englander Falls, Mississippi. It is in this small southern town that Mallory hopes for a fresh start. Like most teenage girls, she longs for normalcy, love and friendships, and ends up finding what she believes is her first true love and real friendship. Instead, she finds herself in a much worse poverty situation, in a battle with her mind again. She becomes entangled in a series of mysterious deaths that eventually point to her as the prime suspect.
Mallory discovers that her blackouts and murders are intertwined deeper than she ever imagined. Upon learning of the murders, she doesn't assume responsibility for them all. As a result, Mallory understands that despite trying to find her own identity, not everyone is who they seem when her loved one disappears. This adds a layer to the mystery in her mind, and she goes on a journey of survival, truth, navigating through the search for identity, and the fight to reclaim one's voice in the face of societal and personal upheavals.
It proves that even an honor student can lead a normal life into adulthood and a hidden one that society can be shocked by. A mystery that can run deeper and darker than the locals imagined.