On second thought I’m bumping this up to five stars because it made me happy to read :)

So imagine you and your crew are on an intergalactic mission to recover an important historical artifact for your homeworld. While stealing said artifact you encounter a weird feral alien kitten in a cage. It helps you escape detection, so you free the alien animal as thanks. But it won’t stop following you around…so you take it onto your spaceship and keep it as a cute little pet.

That’s the setup of Susix, except the intergalactic mission crew is a group of snake-esque alien men (who are in a sort of gay polycule, I think?) and the feral pet is, in fact, a human woman recently abducted from Earth named Cece.

Cece has a pretty rough time at the start of the story, being abducted and then sold at a pet store, then kept in a cage as an ornamental pet in a treasure hoard. So when she meets the snake alien thief who frees her, she holds on tight and sticks with the snake aliens, even though they treat her a wild animal.

This was pretty hilarious—Cece doesn’t even try to communicate the fact that she’s actually a sentient being. I might have tried to communicate through charades or drawing or something. There are plenty of ways I could think of to demonstrate sentience if I put my (sentient) mind to it. But Cece takes to her role as the crew pet easily. She lets the aliens pet her, begs for food scraps at the dinner table, and even lets them lead her around a space station on a leash.

To be fair, I am pretty burnt out all the time, so I can’t say for certain that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to nap all day while someone else solves the problems for once.

The plot is slow and character-focused, making for a cozy read with a cute, fluffy feel. Still, it was engaging enough that I blew through the book quickly and ended up annoyed that I couldn’t pick up book 2 right away (even though the next installment releases just five days from now).

The focus was more on the aliens and the relationships between them than on Cece. Her POV chapters felt a conduit to describe the aliens more.

Quick warning that this is the slowest possible slowburn, i.e. there is ZERO romance in this book. (Which makes sense—the men think that Cece is a wild animal. Would be concerning if any of them tried to make a romantic move on a pet.) However the author has said that there will be a reverse harem/poly romance building in the future. I’m gonna hold her to that promise.aliens cohabitation k-u ...more101 s18 comments Caroline | BooktokEnthusiast362 99

Starting off by saying - this is definitely not for everyone so make sure you know what you're getting into before you start. Honestly, I'm surprised that I d it, but this book was so freaking funny. I was laughing out loud. There are some heavy spoilers below so read at your own risk!

Plot
This is an alien reverse harem where the male main characters are basically these snake/humanoid creatures (I know, I know...but it's fine). The story begins when the female main character, Cece, is abducted by an alien spaceship from her backyard on Earth after she gets home from work one night. The aliens that abduct her are basically human/alien traffickers that abduct different beings from different planets and then sell them as pets around the universe. Cece (and the rest of earth) has no idea that aliens exist, so everything is completely shocking and new to her, and she is in shock/trying to survive. After days spent in cages with other various types of aliens who were also abducted, she is eventually sold to a royal king who keeps her imprisoned in a cell in his throne room.

One day a thief sneaks into the empty throne room, and while Cece is in her cage watching the thief walk around the throne room, he knocks over a vase, and all of the guards come running. Cece helps the mysterious thief avoid detection and helps him escape, so in return, he frees her from the cage. Once she is free, Cece follows the thief out of the castle, and continues to follow him because ya know, she's on a literal different planet with no idea where she is/what to do etc. During their trek through the woods, the thief repeatedly tries to shoo Cece (in a total White Fang moment), because he thinks that she is literally an animal, but she keeps following him. They both speak completely different languages with no idea what the other is saying. However, in a twist of fate, Cece then ends up saving the thief's life twice in the woods. To repay her for saving his life, the thief (who is really a snake-type humanoid creature) finally reunites with his "nest" (the 4 other male main characters) and announces to them that he's going to going to keep Cece as his pet.

This is where the story gets really funny. All 5 of the guys treat Cece as a pet--they call her "Hissy," pet her a lot, feed her scraps from the dinner table, cuddle with her/make her sit on their laps to pet her, and at one point, they make her wear a leash around a busy marketplace. Meanwhile, Cece's POV chapters are her just rolling with being their pet because they're treating her well, and she can't communicate with them, and what else are you gonna do at that point, right? Again, none of them have any idea what the other is saying. To the men, Cece just sounds she's making animal noises. To Cece, all she hears is snake hisses between them. There is dialogue between the characters in the male main characters' POV chapters, and it's really funny listening to them discuss their new pet, "Hissy."

The story culminates in a great ending where Cece kicks absolute ass and saves all 5 guys. Their spaceship is sabotaged by their rivals, which leads to their heating system failing, so all 5 guys are forced into hibernation, which is a death sentence while they're floating in space (because, hello, snake men?). After they all fall into hibernation, their ship is boarded by their enemies who have come to kill the guys and steal the item that the guys stole at the beginning of the story. Unfortunately for the enemies, they do not know Cece is on board the ship. Cece sees everything happening/is able to figure out that they're being attacked, and she hides all of the good guys' sleeping bodies in underground emergency bunkers. Then, Cece steals all of the bombs that the bad guys drop throughout her ship, she sneaks over to the bad guys' ship with the bombs, and she leaves the bombs there. So basically, when the bombs are set off, the bad guys only blow up their own ship and kill themselves. Cece then figures out how to fix the heating system on their spaceship, and the good guys slowly start to wake up from hibernation. After waking up, they're all confused about what happened so they watch the video footage of what happened on their ship, and they finally realize that Cece is a sentient being/not just a pet, and she saved all of their lives (big time). The story ends with the snake-men implanting Cece with a translator, and they finally understand her when she says "Hi!" to them on the last page.

Thoughts
This story really killed me. There's really no other story really it that I've come across. I love Seethur and Hix, in particular. All of the characters are super distinct, and the story comes together in a clever way. I d Cece a lot too. There are a few typos, and at times, there was a bit too much plot/description and not enough character interaction, but I still definitely enjoyed.

There is not much romance in this book, which makes sense because the guys all think Cece is literally an animal/treat her a cute puppy. This series is definitely going to be super slow-burn, but this was a great set-up and totally unique from anything I've seen before. If you're OK with the occasional alien/monster/fantasy romance, then give this a try! It's a fun read.48 s2 comments Iretsia448 55

I don't give a lot of 5 star ratings. Chances are we've all read the alien abduction trope before. In RH, the aliens are usually looking for a wife/womb. That's not what this was, and that's probably why I loved it so much. The aliens the human MC ends up spending the most time with aren't the ones who abducted her, and the aliens just think a smart animal adopted them.

This harem is such a slow burn that this book can't even be called a romance, though we do see a few romantic moments between the male aliens, not involving the human MC. There's no insta love, lust, understanding, or anything. Every emotion in this book is earned. Each of the aliens has a distinct personality and manages to form unique (platonic) relationships with the MC even before they know she's sentient.

The book doesn't end on a cliffhanger in the sense that everyone is in imminent peril, but it did leave me hanging because we had finally gotten to the moment I'd been waiting for during most of the book. I honestly can't wait for book 2. This book would make a great movie.

With all that being said, I do want to point out that there were several editing issues. At times, it looked as if the author wrote the book using a talk-to-text feature that mixed up words that sound the same (led v. lead, ridged v. rigid, helpful v. hopeful, diluting v. deluding, saddled v. sidled, etc.). I enjoyed the book enough that those issues were only minor distractions, but I hope the issues are resolved in book 2.14 s Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro1,326 164

I finished this & started book 2 instead of sleeping, so ... yeah. mf mm reverse-harem ...more7 s KLynn1,378 18

Dammit ... Why did I think this was a standalone? I guess I have no choice but to wait for August 25th.

I'm not sure why I find these "mistaken for a pet" books so intriguing, but here we are. I'm sure I could go back through this book and pick out instances where it was obvious CeCe was a sentient being, but I won't because I didn't go into this book expecting complete believability. I went into this read hoping for an enjoyable escape from reality and that is exactly what I got.


Slight spoilers below:


*Don't go into this first book expecting any type of romance because there is none. The book ends with the revelation that she may be more than just a pet.6 s Veevee597 81

I had no expectations entering this book and I think that was a good thing, since this book wouldn't have met any of them. It's slow, it's a bit confusing and doesn't actually get anywhere when it comes to the expected romance. That being said... I really d it! I d it so much that when I finished the book at midnight last night I immediately went to try and buy the next book, only to curse when I realized that it isn't out yet. Let me try to explain why... (spoilers ahead).

This book takes a different route than most alien kidnapping books. The FMC is captured to be a pet and ends up through a series of events on a ship with a bunch of snake aliens. What I really here, is that the author took the time to develop the FMC's relationship with her new world and with her alien 'owners'. Un in Loving Captivity (which was terrible by the way), Rademaker does not make any of the MMC aliens sexually interested in the FMC while the is still a pet and not considered sentient (Thank f*ck). While the FMC does describe the MMCs as attractive it is sort of a general 'ooh pretty!' rather than insta-lusty, which I really appreciate. While this book really takes the time to develop each character in a non-sexual way, which I really *really* appreciated, I will say that I had a bit of trouble keeping track of which MMC was which since some had similar names.

I'm sure some readers have complained about the slow pace of the book and while I can't deny that the pace is absolutely glacial, there is a really great pay off in the end. Over the course of the book the FMC slowly learns how the alien space ship works just through everyday life and all of the knowledge comes together when she saves her aliens at the end of the book. The FMC uses all of the knowledge she gained previously to defeat the baddies and I really d how well thought through and smart the whole thing was.

Overall this was a really great start to an interesting series and I am looking forward to reading more. I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy more slow-burn, slice of [alien] life type books. If you want hardcore alien tentacle smut, you aren't going to get that here. 6 s Daisy Delfin1,126 152

I know this book need a really good review, but I just can't write a proper review.
I will recommend this book any chance I get and even though I normally avoid SIFI romances, I really loved this one and it will for sure end up in my #SIFIRomanceHallOfFame.

Instead of writing my own review, I recommend one from my gr friend Helen. I enjoy reading her and look forward to anything she too. Thanks Helen!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...2023 sifi-sifi-romance5 s2 comments Grey Story351 13

Plot? LOVED IT
Characters? LOVED THEM
World-Building? Not a whole lot but what was there, loved it!
Is this a romance? No!

Goodreads has this marked as "Science Fiction, Reverse Harem, Aliens, Pirates, Romance, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance." Reverse Harem (or more ly, poly) could be endgame but it's not in this book. That is fine with me but I realize for some folks they'd be really disappointed. This is first and foremost a sci fi story. There is romance and 'fade to black' sex happening in the book but none of it is with the female human character.

Over time, the reader and our female lead, Cece, gets to know each of the five main reptilian aliens. The reader has the advantage of the male alien POVs so we know a lot more about them than her. Nevertheless, Cece comes to care for them to some degree but being treated an animal comes with a built in barrier in addition to the language and cultural barriers one would expect when faced with an unknown alien race. The alien crew is intentional in their efforts at keeping their "pet" from getting into things and don't bother giving her any opportunities to learn or really do anything. To be honest, I think my cats may have more freedom and enrichment opportunities than poor Cece does.

The "how do they not realize the human is sentient and not a pet" is sometimes frustrating. At times, the excuse or reasoning makes sense (e.g. some pets are put into clothes, some make noises or can repeat phrases, some can be trained to use a toilet) while others left me squinting at the characters as they brush off behaviors that should have had them questioning things. That said, it was well-written, mostly fun, and sometimes even funny.

I enjoyed it heartily and was super eager to immediately download the next book only to realize it's not out yet. Now I am dying because I have to know what happens next. I was ready to start reading it now, at midnight, and stay awake all night. That's how badly I want to read it right now. I have to somehow find a way to survive A WHOLE WEEK until book two is released!0-alien-romance favorites owned ...more4 s6 comments Zen2,185

4 stars

This was fun! It felt a bit draggy in places, but over all, it was an enjoyable read. It was great reading "pet" story that didn't focus around domination, but misunderstandings instead.2023-reads aliens buddy-read ...more3 s Main Character Energy543 4

Dam it!!!
I accidently read this book, and the next one isn't out yet. I LOVED IT! While the romance is slow, i just love everything about it. The plot is great, and the characters are awesome!! I can't wait until the next book is out (25th august 2023)

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.still-more-to-come wont-start-till-more-book-in-series would-read-again2 s Summer334 9

Love 5 star books. So few and far between.aliens kidnapped space2 s Jorja155 4

interesting

Definitely different than I’m used to. There was no romance in book 1 but I was fine with that given the circumstances. I really loved the world building and character development.reverse-harem-romance2 s Linda291 3

Bromance not Romance

So if you think this is an alien romance... It's Not. The only goody grabbing going on is between two males and even thats under the covers. If you think this is Sci-Fi...it's not, the writer obviously doesn't know how gravity works or ANY technical terms for anything mechanical. Cece is a moron that doesn't make any effort after the first five minutes to converse with anyone but herself. She's on their ship for weeks and just goes along, dum Dee dum. Truly TSTL. The male snakey guys remind me of the queer-eye guys but without the personality. Unfortunately I Paid for this stupid book so I made myself finish it even as my IQ plummeted. Do yourself a favor "Just say No"2 s Jayna243

This was not what I expected! A very, very slow burn in which the mmcs do not know that the fmc is sentient until the very last moment of the book. I enjoyed this because it felt very slice of life. There was a language barrier for the whole book(my favorite trope) but since the mmcs believed the fmc was an animal, there were no attempts to remedy that until the end. At times it felt a little silly because how could they not know? I tried to consider animals monkeys or parrots maybe, who can solve simple puzzles and make gestures and maybe even communicate. Very smart animals. The fmc didn't really try to convince the mmcs that she was human at all, even after she had grown close/friendly with them as their pet. I could understand if she was scared or in danger but these aliens were really kind and nice to her.

I would have loved to see more world building. At times I was confused about the relationship between the males. They call themselves nestmates. Some of them have a sexual relationship and some of them are just close. I had a hard time visualizing the hierarchy I guess. One of the MMCs was a prime, but what is that? A king? Just the leader of a family? And where did these aliens come from? What is their home ? Are women treasured there? Is it a matriarchal society? Do they even have women? Etc. I just wanted more information about their society and culture in general! We get some info about the crown and taking over power etc but it was too vague for my liking(also I am sick with strep throat so my brain isn't fully functioning so maybe I just missed some of this stuff!)

3 stars on my scale means I d/enjoyed this book. I plan on reading the next book because I'm curious how they will transition from the relationship they currently have(between pet and owners) to a sexual relationship(ive heard this turns into a reverse harem). I really want to see where this goes!This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewread-in-20231 Honest Mabel966 39

amazing so amazing

So book 2 will have your romancing but book one was vital to not have it. You had to have the evolution of them looking at the human as a sentient being.

It was amazingkindle-unlimited1 Mary473 47

Damn cliffhangers!!
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