{"id":11758,"date":"2019-03-13T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T13:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11758"},"modified":"2025-05-05T20:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T00:52:17","slug":"feral-dust-bunnies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11758","title":{"rendered":"Feral Dust Bunnies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feral Dust Bunnies<\/a><\/em> (2017) Angel Martinez<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I’m glad I purchased this book with the previous, because otherwise I might have ended the series there and that would have been a shame, because this story was great<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Alex Wolf is an officer in Precinct #77. Like the others, he’s strange. Weird. When he was little, he was cursed and changed from a wolf into a human. He eventually learned to talk, was adopted by two scientists who raised him and loved him as if he was their own, and (mostly) fits into human society. But he’s definitely odd, and often has problems.<\/p>\n

He hated handshakes. They were just weird. But he\u2019d long ago been dissuaded from sniffing other humans or nudging them with his nose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She quite obviously put a lot of work into creating a character who has to work to fit into human society, and it’s adorable and marvelous.<\/p>\n

(O)nce he got to the grocer\u2019s, the sheer number of bins of apples confused him and he forgot which ones Mom had said. Mrs. Hui had to rescue him from apple purgatory, though he did remember the milk on his own. Twenty-five years as a human and sometimes simple human things still weren\u2019t that simple for him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also like that his mother–although a scientist–obviously loves and accepts him as he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you all right, sweetheart?\u201d Mom stopped on her way past his room with a new book in hand. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t remember how to human,\u201d Wolf said with a frustrated snarl. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh? You\u2019re still using your words. That\u2019s good. What part of humaning is causing the problem?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also really liked Wolf’s partner, Krisk, who is a giant, intelligent, lizard. Since lizards lack vocal cords, Krisk communicates through gestures and texting. <\/p>\n

And like Wolf, he is clearly not human, although he does try.<\/p>\n

Dinner<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m almost done here.\u201d Wolf stared at the message again, then realized he wasn\u2019t sure what Krisk meant. He texted back\u2014 <\/p>\n

You mean your place? Mom\u2019s expecting me home<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Adopted matriarch is welcome. The dinner hour thrice following this one<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Got it. You know she doesn\u2019t eat mealworms, right<\/em>? <\/p>\n

One is aware<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Okay<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, she did a very good job showing that Krisk wasn’t human. Like Wolf, his thought processes and ways of expression were not bog standard human, which makes both of them fascinating.<\/p>\n

And I haven’t even talked about the story yet. The 77th is called in whenever someone thinks a problem is being caused by a supernatural agent or entity. So they get a lot of calls that are immediately referred to animal control.<\/p>\n

Two such calls seem on the surface to be lost or feral dogs, but desiccated animal remains quickly point otherwise.<\/p>\n

Which is how Wolf ends up with a kitten.<\/p>\n

Probably the most adorable kitten in all of kitten-hood.<\/p>\n

Kitten was crying, of course, and latched on to Mom\u2019s jeans where she\u2019d managed to claw halfway up one calf while Mom tried to finish dinner. The moment she heard Wolf\u2019s voice, though, she let go and flumped in a kitten pile on the kitchen floor before she scrambled to her feet and baby-wobbled to him, still crying as if someone were pulling her tail off.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Wolf quickly adopts her as part of his pack. Which means that he is suddenly seeing a lot more of Jason Shen, the Animal Control officer.<\/p>\n

Although they aren’t especially offensive, I don’t like the covers of this series, and this one is particularly egregious, because it is definitely not Alex, who is described as very hirsute (unsurprisingly) nor is it Jason, who is Asian and described as having a little pot belly.<\/p>\n

This is actually not a throw-away detail, since Alex has some food issues. Not an eating disorder, but because he spent time hungry as a wolf cub, he has issues. All of which comes back around to how awesome his mother is. She is delightful. <\/p>\n

I hv her. Srry<\/em>. <\/p>\n

You took her to WORK<\/em>? <\/p>\n

\u201cDamn it.\u201d <\/p>\n

I have all her stuff. It\u2019s OK, Mom. She has peeps watching her<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Mom typed for a long time, then finally sent\u2014 <\/p>\n

They better not be peeps. Marshmallow chicks should not watch kittens<\/em>. <\/p>\n

For the second time in fifteen minutes, Wolf sagged in relief. If Mom was making bad jokes, she wasn\u2019t so mad anymore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s that “Mom typed for a long time” bit that I really like there. Obviously she’s spent learning to be patient with Alex, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get mad and upset. I imagine her typing–taking a deep breath and deleting–then starting over. She’s not magically patient, which I really like. (Especially since Alex doesn’t easily pick up the human cues of exasperation and frustration, things from his POV tend to ignore them.)<\/p>\n

And I still haven’t talked about Jason being complex and interesting. Which he is.<\/p>\n

The point being, I really really enjoyed this story. The world building is fun and the characters were extremely well done, feeling alien while still being comprehensible.<\/p>\n

Yay!<\/p>\n

Publisher: Pride Publishing
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez I’m glad I purchased this book with the previous, because otherwise I might have ended the series there and that would have been a shame, because this story was great. Alex Wolf is an officer in Precinct #77. Like the others, he’s strange. Weird. When he was little, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,2,8,42,148,26,56,16],"tags":[179,50,544,852],"class_list":["post-11758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-fantasy","category-mystery","category-police","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-supernatural","tag-angel-martinez","tag-boinking","tag-mm","tag-offbeat-crimes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-33E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14307,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14307","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":0},"title":"Feral Dust Bunnies","author":"Michelle","date":"May 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) While he did hiss and snort, Krisk never spoke a word, probably because his mouth and throat weren\u2019t the right shape for it. They got by, communicating in gestures and texts, and after four years, they understood each other damn well. Dinner.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Feral Dust Bunnies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Feral-Dust-Bunnies.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12406,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12406","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":1},"title":"Feral Dust Bunnies","author":"Michelle","date":"January 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Feral Dust Bunnies (2017) Angel Martinez This is one of my favorite stories in the collection. Alex Wolf is a member of the 77th. His partner is a giant lizard of unknown origin, but his own origin might be odder. \u201cAre you all right, sweetheart?\u201d Mom stopped on her way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Feral Dust Bunnies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Feral-Dust-Bunnies.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12408,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12408","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":2},"title":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs","author":"Michelle","date":"January 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (2017) Angel Martinez This story splits between Jason and Alex's point-of-view. Most of the 77th has to go to State Paranormal to face an inquiry as to the events of the previous book, where an arcane working was destroyed in the hopes it would stop the attacks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Jackalopes-and-Woofen-Poofs.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11767,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11767","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":3},"title":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs","author":"Michelle","date":"March 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (2017) Angel Martinez Alex and the rest of the 77th are dealing with the fall out from the last book, when Kash destroyed the magical working that was creating the attack dust bunnies. Jason's work is fine, but his family remains a big problem. Paul took five\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Jackalopes-and-Woofen-Poofs.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14309,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14309","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":4},"title":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs","author":"Michelle","date":"May 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs (2017) Angel Martinez (Offbeat Crimes) \u201cKinda wish I could take you with me, Mom,\u201d Wolf mumbled around a bite of toast. \u201cI wish I could go too, sweetie. But then all the other officers would want to take their moms and the poor board of inquiry members\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jackalopes and Woofen-Poofs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Jackalopes-and-Woofen-Poofs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12400,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12400","url_meta":{"origin":11758,"position":5},"title":"Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters","author":"Michelle","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters (2016) Angel Martinez I started several books and immediately dropped them, so since this series has been in the back of my mind, I decided to re-read, even though it's been less than a year since I first read it. Kyle Monroe was a normal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Lime-Gelatin-and-Other-Monsters.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}