Wild (The Vargulf Trilogy, Book 1) by Naomi Clark
Lizzie, the protagonist of Naomi Clark’s Wild, is not unlikeable, but starts in a place where she seems that way. Addicted to hard drugs, trying to maintain in an abusive relationship on the verge of bottoming out, living for the next party–she inspires sympathy, and pity, but did not strike me as someone I’d want to get to know. But there are sides to Lizzie that have, it turns out, not seen air in a long time, and after a werewolf attack changes her body and her life, they come out. Along the way, she meets weres who encourage her baser instincts, and others who encourage her finer ones.
Naomi Clark presents this struggle with an unflinching realism that makes effective use of the fantasic elements of dark urban fantasy and werewolf lore without losing focus and wandering off into those elements. I ended up liking Lizzie more and more as the book progressed, and will be looking forward to see where she goes in the next book, and how she fares in facing the consequences of her decisions in this one.