Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind.
Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered-fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are-and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is-she can't have both.
On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue-Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).