Seventeen-year-old Ren Adams feels lucky to be living with his older brother, Levi, and Levi's girlfriend, Ellie -- a welcome escape from his mother and the fundamentalist husband she married after the death of Ren's father in the Afghan War. Ren is working two jobs to save money for college, and he finally feels able to breathe, even if Levi and Ellie insist on trying to RENovate him, make him "man up," push his limits, live up to his potential ... whatever that may be. Ren does his best to keep up -- until Levi is killed in an avalanche on one of their follow-the-leader dares. In his grief, Ren feels unmoored, while Ellie almost maniacally embraces new risks and adventures, and tries to pull Ren into her orbit. He cannot resist her wattage, and when she comes to his bed one night, he stops trying. The next morning, Ellie has disappeared. Ren throws himself into full Ren-to-the-rescue mode -- out of love, brotherly loyalty, guilt or grief? He doesn't quite know. His search is by turns enlightening and reckless, as he discovers that life's biggest tests -- whether of character or physical prowess -- cannot be mapped in advance, and that true loyalty starts with oneself.