Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Identity Crisis
Taylor begins our story pulled in multiple very stressful directions. As leader of both the territory wars and one of Jellicoe School's Houses, people are looking to her for guidance. Taylor, however, finds it difficult to lead while struggling with where she comes from and why her mother abandoned her, especially when people like Hannah, who should be providing answers, refuse to give them.
Rising Action
Gone Girl
Things get progressively more complicated for Taylor when Hannah disappears. Left without her mentor and supervisor in the midst of the chaotic territory wars and teenage girl House drama, Taylor feels more abandoned than ever. This leads her to stop accepting what she's been told about her past and start looking for answers on her own.
Climax
Road Trip
After a photograph of her mother and the original five from Hannah's book drives Taylor to her breaking point, she hits the road with Jonah Griggs to revisit her past and try to find her mother. In the process, she discovers the true identity of the Brigadier—Jude Scanlon, one of her mother's friends—and learns that her mother is dying.
Falling Action
Tate Comes Home
In fulfillment of what Taylor believes would have been her father's wishes, Jude brings Tate to Hannah's house by the river to spend her final weeks. As Taylor simultaneously gets to know her mom and prepares to lose her, she finds herself with not just answers to the questions she's had all her life, but with a new family and a future.
Resolution
Journey to the Beach
To resolve their hectic, emotional journey, Hannah, Jude, Taylor, and her new friends travel to the seashore to complete the journey Hannah's family started years ago. Hannah and Jessa speculate about whether all of their lost family members are together in one place.