Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses drug use, substance use disorder, abortion, sexual violence, and rape, which feature in the source text.

The protagonist of the novel and its first-person narrator, Kristina is a 16-year-old girl. She lives in Reno with her mother, Marie; her stepfather, Scott; and her siblings. Her life changes dramatically when she goes to Albuquerque to meet her estranged father on a court-ordered visit. In Albuquerque, Kristina falls in love with a young man named Adam who introduces her to marijuana, tobacco, and crystal meth. As Kristina develops an addiction to meth, her personality changes, and she grows increasingly alienated from her family. On her return to Reno, she begins to withdraw from her parents and old school friends and grows more reckless. She calls her new, uninhibited self “Bree” and often uses the moniker as an alias with new dates and friends. Blonde and pretty, Kristina often chafes against societal expectations of honors students like her. As Bree, she demolishes these expectations.

Although Kristina tries to fight her addiction, meth, or “the monster” as she dubs it, keeps drawing her back in. In her quest to keep scoring meth, Kristina dates two boys, Brendan and Chase.