In Beatrice Prior's world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to a special skill Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will have to be in for the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is and she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 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. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense simulations, some with disastrous consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to demolish her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves or it might destroy her.