Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at JCU chapter.

Werewolves have always been way more interesting to me than vampires, I admit. Maybe I’m just that much a dog person? Whatever the reason, I’ve read plenty of books featuring werewolves, so here are a few ranked below:

 

  1. Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong- (4/5 stars) I remember really liking this trilogy, and I would actually love to re-read it. It’s particularly appropriate for Halloween because it features a necromancer protagonist and a werewolf side character/potential love interest. I should note, though, that this one’s got some shady mental health stuff going on–the protag is originally diagnosed as schizophrenic and sent to a clinic, only to discover that she’s actually a necromancer. That seems not great to me in terms of representation of mental illness, but I would like to hear the opinion of someone more experienced or qualified with that. That aside, I really enjoyed the characters and plot of this trilogy.

  2. The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater- (3/5 stars) A lot of people are more familiar with Stiefvater’s quartet The Raven Boys, but Wolves of Mercy Falls came first. I’ve never loved her writing as much as some people, but I enjoyed Wolves of Mercy Falls. Pretty significant romance focus, and now that I think about it, reminds me a little bit of “Teen Wolf”? Anyway, this one has more conflict between the wolves and the town, which was interesting and suspenseful.

  3. Nightshade trilogy by Andrea Cremer- (3/5 stars) A lot of the worldbuilding in this one was really unique. Also much more discussion about packs and pack dynamics than some other ones on this list. It’s definitely got the alpha-male stereotype so often found in werewolf books though, which can be a real eye-roller, along with discussion of mating, which gets a bit weird. But I do remember enjoying the worldbuilding, as I said.

  4. The Dark Divine trilogy by Bree Despain- (3/5 stars) All three of these books got three stars from me. This was a romance-heavier trilogy, as many of these werewolf ones tend to be, and the werewolf phenomenon causes most of the relationship (and plot) conflict. Honestly, I don’t remember it that well, but I liked it okay at the time.

  5. Fateful by Claudia Gray- (2/5 stars) Werewolves…on the Titanic. Aboard the doomed luxury ship, young maid tess meets mysterious stranger, who turns out to have some pretty substantial problems, namely a group of werewolves he’s trying to escape from. This one was just a little much for me. Too much gooey romance, not good enough writing, and really, the Titanic? Not for me.

What’s your favorite book about werewolves?

 

Mallory Fitzpatrick is a senior at John Carroll University, who loves reading, writing, and travel.