When Hazel's brother is found unresponsive with his eyes sewn shut, her urge to cut returns. It makes her feel whole, makes her feel like she's letting the pain out. After all, what else can she do? Her family is homeless. Her dad stranded them for a new life and her ex-boyfriend, Dylan, obsessively follows her.

If only things were like before: back when she was at the Safe House with the other broken girls. They were the only ones she understood; they were the only ones who understood her. Hazel's best friend, Clara, has an idea: they should hunt down the person who took her brother. Investigate why he was hanging out with fellow classmate, Rowan and his band of weird poets. Try to find out why more kids have gone missing, find out why all of them are dreaming of a tree covered in dead snakes.

Soon enough, the missing turn into the dead. Whisperings of poetry slither through Hazel's day-to-day life, infecting everything. What's real? What's not? Why is everyone she feels close to acting so strange? Why does her blood rage for release with a fire that can never be quelled? Is she changing? Are they all changing?