The series follows Tessa Gray, an orphaned teenage girl who discovers she has the power to shape-shift, but doesn't bear a mark that shows she is a warlock. She is forced to learn how to control this newly established power and navigate the new world she was forcefully introduced into. The series follows Tessa's life as she lives in the London Institute with the Shadowhunters.
The trilogy features William "Will" Herondale, James "Jem" Carstairs, Theresa "Tessa" Gray, and other Downworlders and Shadowhunters in the London Institute. It also features Magnus Bane, Camille Belcourt and other characters who appear in The Mortal Instruments series.
The books also contain many quotes referring to famous pieces of Victorian Literature like Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Alfred Tennyson.
