First and foremost, thank you NetGalley for the ability to read this book.

I entered into reading this with no prior knowledge of the storyline or web comic. Maybe more information would have helped? Unfortunately, I could not get past the less than stellar writing, abusive father and husband, and starting out the entire story with SA was heavily jarring. Others, I know, love this story, so I know this is a "me" issue and not an overwhelming issue with the book as a whole.

sooooooo beautifully made. The webcomic was one of my faves, and seeing it here was just as enjoyable. Lady Maximilian is just so pretty, so wonderful. Honestly just this whole comic is. i hate how much i love this romance. and i want the second volume out already. I know I can go read the webcomic----and i probs will--but holding it in person is so much better sometimes.
THANK YOUUUU for this!!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free copy for review.

I've been getting into my romantasy era and this for me started off way too violent. I don't read this genre to read about women being violently attacked by her own husband. I know the story is based on accurate medieval marriages, but it definitely wanted to make me DNF within the first 5% of the book.

While I enjoyed the sort of meandering pace of the story once she's at the castle, the miscommunication between the two main characters was starting to just become annoying. Their only conversations are usually just Riftan getting upset and agitated and Maxi crouching in fear. This is supposed to be a couple you root for? Who cannot even have an honest conversation?

I appreciated the disability representation though.

The writing was okay. I did find it mildly juvenile but I enjoyed the imagery of the landscape and the castle.

I will say for a story called Under the Oak Tree, you are only around an Oak tree I think twice in the entire book.

Will not be continuing on in the series, which is a shame because the cover is so pretty.

I received this as an arc from NetGalley but didn’t end up reading it until after publication!

I love this story and I can’t wait to continue reading the novel versions of the series.

It was exactly what I expected from it, a near direct copy of the graphic novel. As a result, there were a few moments that fell flat without the emphasis of the illustrations but I still enjoyed everything.

This book was a enjoyable read read much like the webtoon but with more details. I would definitely buy this book to have on my shelf the cover is stunning and would recommend for others to read if they were looking for something like it

While the romance felt formulaic (broody vs sunshine/innocent), which I can enjoy and often do, the darker scenes did pull me out of the story at times. There was also a repetitive, simplistic feeling from the writing. Still, it was a breeze to get through and I enjoyed my time. Thank you to the author and publisher.

First- trigger warnings! The SA is so tragic, emotional and gut wrenching. Very descriptive and the amount of tears I shed could have filled a bath tub

Well written story of historical romance. He wants to love, and protect her and she wants to be useful. He fights monsters and eventually she becomes a mage to assist. Spicy and hot story as you cheer these two on throughout their ups and downs.

First I’ll start by saying that the premise of this book was so interesting. Maxi has been married off to a newly made knight before he’s shipped off to battle and after years apart they are finally reunited and trying to learn to live together. Definitely hits hard the trope of arranged marriage if that’s what you are into. I love how Maxi also has a speech impediment and how her husband is one of the few that doesn’t treat her as less because of it. I’m interested in reading the original comic or webtoon this is based off of.

Absolutely not. I get there is a trigger warning but no. Just NO. The blatant rape and overall uncomfortable feel to the entire book was just too much! Poorly written and just disgusting.

I received a free ebook from ##NetGalley. #UndertheOakTree by #SujiKim has a female protagonist, Maxi, who has been mentally and physically abused in the past and has a stuttering problem. She never feels good enough and was left at her father's after she was forced at a young age to marry Sir Riftan who was forced to kill a dragon for Maxi's father. Maxi and Sir Riftan meet 3 years later and she never feels good enough and I suspect he doesn't either. There are numerous sex scenes so this book is definitely an adult fantasy. The book is continued in Vol 2 which I look forward to reading. There is an appendix explaining the types of knights and monsters but in this volume we do not see many examples in the story. We see mainly Sir Riftan and his people and how Maxi grows while she lives with them

3.5 Rounded up. Boy was this a lot smuttier than I expected. I am unfamiliar with the web novel so I didn't realize just how raunchy it would be. I was definitely taken in by the cover thinking we'd have a much more ethereal fantasy but nope. I'm glad there were trigger warnings because this story does begin with nonconsensual scenes and I was worried how this would turn out but as the story progressed it became a bit like popcorn. It's not the best but it was kind of addictive to see how this would progress and even though our heroine is extremely meek she was previously abused so it was nice to see somewhat realistic growth in her journey of healing and self-respect. I wished there was a bit more plot to this than just scenes that felt a little repetitive, I don't know how many times we needed to be reminded that he is obsessed with her essentially but like I said, this is popcorn and I ate the whole bowl.

This book is absolutely stunning, and I know that both my fantasy and manga customer will love this book!

Unfortunately this story was just not for me. I was not a fan of the characters or the relationship, that I just could not finish.

However, I know that this book will be perfect for many customers, and I will not hesitate to recommend to those customers.

Delightful read! The romance was enough to keep me reading despire how much I wanted to slap the both of them for their lack of communication. Also I would very much like to see her father thrown off a very tall hill. Very intrigued to see if there is a confrontation between her, her father, sister and her husband. Would love to see what happens next.

The first half of Under the Oak Tree is rough and I almost dnfed, but I'm glad I pushed through. In the beginning Maxi is peak blushing virgin and doesn't seem to even understand what sex is, let alone be able to consent to Riftan on her wedding night. There are a lot of sex scenes in this book (they use polite euphemisms for genitalia and are generally written well enough), but I'd say the first few are rape just because Maxi doesn't understand what's happening and believes sex to be a frigid, dutiful affair between man and wife. Riftan also doesn't listen to her when she says no or clearly seems uncomfortable because he's just so horny for Maxi.

Aside from traveling between castles and the dubcon/noncon sex, not much else happens until 50% in when Maxi takes on her duties as lady of Calypse Castle. Here we get learn more about the cast of characters, in particular Ruth the mage, and see how Maxi takes to her new life away from her father. I enjoyed seeing her grow and come out of her shell a bit more. The worldbuilding was also interesting with the politics between countries and the magic system. I'll likely read more, though I may switch to the comic instead as I grew tired of being in Maxi's self-deprecating head at times.

If you can get past the slow start and rape in the beginning, then the story actually gets interesting. I don't blame if you if you can't though.

Cover - A++
Story Overall - I still really like it, knowing what I do about where it goes (though I am hesitant to recommend the novel over the comic for the following reason for first timers)

Max as a narrated character versus a comic character is so painful to read. Half the point of this book is her character growth, but holy heck is it a slough to get through the first volume before those changes start to occur.

I had always heard amazing things about this webtoon, and to be able to have the chance to actually read it was wonderful. I absolutely loved it and can't wait for more. Thank you for the arc.

I really wanted to enjoy this but I found I struggled with the pacing and the choppiness of the dialogue. There were some aspects that I enjoyed but overall this was a difficult read for me.

This was a very quick read and I was thoroughly intrigued. I liked the worldbuilding of the medieval aspect but nothing spoke out to me.

I read the comic version first and this one sticks very closely to it. There's SA and the relationship comes off more as a bully romance in the beginning with lots of miscommunication/lack of communication. While there are scenes where the MCs are tender towards each other and you can tell that they care for each other, it definitely comes off harsher here than the comic. I really wanted to like this one more than I did but there wasn't much depth to the characters or plot. It started off with some action and a clear journey but once they get to Riftan's home, the plot slows tremendously. I'm hoping as the series continues, we see more worldbuilding and character growth (I'm sure we will since this is just the beginning). I'd recommend the comic version first and then if you like that and want to read the novelization, give this one a try.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a DRC from Inklore via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.