Young and brilliant, Allie Mayweather had an offputting way of making up stories to make her life seem more exciting and to hide her true feelings. Raised by her mother and grandmother, she never knew her father, but her family was well provided for by her mother's friend, the wealthy and mysterious Mr. Tessla. After her mother dies of cancer when Allie is only eight, Mr. Tessla fulfills a promise by taking care of Allie for the rest of her life. At eighteen, she even goes to work at Mr. Tessla's company where she befriends some of the other odd characters he's managed to employ, while gaining the ire of all her other coworkers. The only flaw in her life with Mr. Tessla is his young wife, Prima Pendrake, who is beautiful but cold, cruel, and cunning.

Still, Allie has a pretty good life by the time she turns twenty-one. She has an odd, yet charming roommate, a small group of strange but supportive friends, a man who treats her like the father she never knew, and a job that provided all she needed, despite not getting on well with most of her coworkers. And then, a week after her birthday, it's all torn apart as everything changes in an instant. It is only then that she realizes the entire world as she knew it was a lie... a lie that everyone close to her was involved in.

Once given all the facts, Allie must decide if she is willing to put her faith in those who deceived her for her entire life and join them on a race to save a world she didn't even know existed, or let them all go and continue on alone in a world that never quite fit her.