I've loved this story for so long and am so happy it's getting a english adaptation! A young woman who has been living a sheltered and abused life is forced to marry a lowborn knight in one of her father's schemes.... yet to her great surprise she finds that there is love growing there and that her own happiness might finally be here. Lady Maximillian is the daughter of the Duke of Croyso and shes been forced to stay hidden in her family's home due to her family not wanting her stutter to tarnish the family's noble name. When she is forced into a marriage with Sir Riftan, a lowborn knight, due to her father's scheme.... she couldn't be more scared. Her timid and shy stuttering nature vs his gruff manor makes their relationship have a sour beginning when Riftan leaves without a word on the morning after their vows are exchanged.... and now three years later he has returned as a war hero and he still wants Maxi for his wife despite rumors that a princess has offered for his hand in marriage.... Riftan has actually been longing for Maxi ever since he met her, he's been in love with her and wants nothing more than to be with her. As she is moved into his world and his home, Maxi must find the courage to claim her own happiness after a lifetime of being powerless, she has to find a way to speak for herself and claim the love that awaits her. This series is one of my favorites and its such a fantastic adventure. I can't wait to read the other official english books and am so happy to be able to read this now!!! It's such a beautiful and touching story of growth, love, and healing, and I would absolutely recommend it!

Release Date: November 5, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Inklore for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was my first introduction to Under the Oak Tree, and I really enjoyed the story. Maxi, or Maximilian, is the daughter of the Duke of Croyso, and a lifetime of neglect, abuse, and isolation has left her with low self-worth and confidence. She is married off to the fearless knight Riftan and whisked away to his estate to start their new life together. Maxi’s character development is charming; watching her gradually find herself and grow in confidence was really rewarding.

The medieval-fantasy world is intriguing, too, with hints of magic systems and backstories involving dragons, werewolves, and other mysteries woven throughout. I’m really looking forward to Volume 2!

Under the Oak Tree surprised me more than any other book this year, and I am so glad I read it. I requested this ARC on NetGalley because the premise of knights, epic fantasy realms, love, and discovery of oneself are some of my favorite themes. I didn't know that this was an adaptation of a webnovel on MANTA, so I basically walked in blind. My summary: A high society woman struggles to overcome her abusive background while her new life rewires her brain to accept happiness in life as an option, in an X-rated folktale setting.

Maxi (short for Maximilian), suffers from a chronic stutter and is abused by her father because of it. Deemed unworthy to be a duke's daughter, she endures a neglected, sheltered, and unloving upbringing. Reading through Maxi's journey of healing through her trauma, in turn, healed some parts of myself. Maxi and I share a similar background, so watching her heal brought both joy and sorrow. While the intricacies of Maxi's characterization are somewhat subtle in the writing, she is anything but a flat character. The depths of her unraveling her trauma and healing from it are heartwarming to experience, especially through her relationship to the esteemed knight, Riftan Calypse. While their banter and love is adorable and just enchanting, the spicy scenes in this book are extremely tasteful. Overall, the writing is incredible.

This adaptation brought me to tears, and I was enraptured with the writing style. There are so many different hidden threads to this novel that I can't wait to discover. I am MAD that I can't read the second one right away. (Yes, I could read ahead on MANTRA, but I would like to wait and hopefully receive the next ARC.)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for sending me an ARC! All opinions are my own.

Wow, Under the Oak Tree absolutely blew me away! The smut in this book is incredibly powerful—it’s intense, steamy, and definitely not for the faint of heart. Suji Kim does an amazing job of balancing raw passion with deep emotional connections, making every encounter feel meaningful and charged.

The story revolves around themes of desire, vulnerability, and personal growth, and the characters really resonate with you. I found myself completely immersed in their journey, feeling every emotion as they navigate their complicated relationship. The setting, especially the oak tree, adds a beautiful layer of symbolism and intimacy to their encounters.

If you’re looking for a romance that combines strong character development with sizzling chemistry, this is definitely the book for you. Under the Oak Tree is a must-read for anyone who loves their romance with a side of steam!

This was very vivid and lush. I really enjoyed the female main character’s development and story arc. The romance was so enjoyable too and I found the plot to be engaging and entertaining!

Gonna start off by saying that this book probably the most number of spicy scenes in a book I’ve read in a long time. Which isn’t a bad thing, but was definitely a bit unexpected (even after skimming some of the other reviews for the book ahead of time). They weren't overly graphic, but they were frequent. In some ways it felt a little like a fanfic for the plot to spice ratio.

In terms of the story itself, I felt like most of the plot was happening when the FMC and MMC were apart, the few times that they were. As the book is advertised as a romance, I felt like that shouldn't be the case. To me, it felt like I was a good ways into the book before any real plot started to show up. Considering its the first in a (presumably) lengthier series, it makes some sense that the plot is slow to appear and move forward? But it felt a little bland as a result of my wanting something to actually happen.

I didn’t love the MMC, Riftan. He seemed to be all over the place and very inconsistent. Maxi was okay. I didn't love her but I didn't hate her. I felt for her situation to some degree but I also felt frustrated that the little bit of progress she seemed to be making kept being roadblocked by the men in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

I have read parts of this web novel previously and really enjoyed it and feel like it does not translate well to novel form.

I was so excited about the premise of this book, and I'll be honest, I was really thrown off by how intense the assault was at the start of the story. It honestly just kind of threw me and I never got into the story. I think with proper content warnings, readers could have a better sense of whether or not this is going to be the right read for them.

I also think this story would be better served in a more visual format or in about half the length as a novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had to DNF this ARC 6% of the way in because of material related to rape and sexual assault. In the very first chapter, the main character, Maxi, is raped by her newly-wed husband Riftan, yet this book sets up their relationship as a romance. I recommend more specific trigger warnings at the beginning of the novel, as the author's note only mentions that this novel "contains explicit sexual content that may not be suitable for all audiences."

Note: I have not read the manwha,

Unfortunately I was not a huge fan of this book and the only reason was the beginning which I was not expecting to have such strong themes of SA. It really put me off the whole book specially because it didnt seem marketed in that way. I really wanted to love it, but I couldn’t get past that and it made it hard to be able to continue the story.

I think for some people this book will be amazing, it was just not it for me because I was triggered and was not able to prepare as there was no warning of this prior. If there were a warning, I couldve came into this experience with a much different outlook

I was excited about reading this book—the plot seemed so promising! But, while I enjoyed parts of it, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

I was drawn in by the storyline, especially seeing Maxi, sheltered and unsure, start to find her voice in a restrictive medieval world. Her journey was inspiring, and I rooted for her as she began standing up for herself. Riftan’s character intrigued me too, though I wish there had been more depth to both of them. They each have defined personalities, but something feels missing, like we’re only scratching the surface.

The worldbuilding gives off those familiar fantasy medieval vibes, which I always enjoy. It’s not the most unique, but it sets the tone well. And honestly, I think this story works better as a webtoon, with a great artwork it could bring more emotion and layers to the characters and setting.

It’s an easy, quick read with a story that kept me interested enough to pick up the next volume. Despite some simplicity in the writing and character development, I’m curious to see how Maxi’s journey continues and if her relationship with Riftan deepens over time. Fans of straightforward, character-driven fantasy romance may enjoy this as a light read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read this back in 2021 as a manwha after being influenced by a random Instagram ad, and I was so enamored by the story that I found the web novel online somehow, read what was uploaded (I think it was Ch. 250 something) in a week, then proceeded to forget the plot after being steamrolled by my MA thesis research. 🤪

So when I found out that this got picked up for traditional publishing, I RAN to request it. Not only did this bring back memories of my minuscule studio apartment in Warsaw, but honestly, I think this was the start of my toe dip into romantic fantasy. 💖

The story follows Maximillian Calypse, the horrifically abused daughter of a wealthy duke who forced her to marry lowborn knight, Riftan, in order to avoid his duties. Now that Riftan has returned victorious from a brutal three-year campaign, he’s come back to escort his estranged wife to his estate. I will be honest and say that I don’t know what drew me to these characters in the first place. Maybe I loved the dynamic of two awkward people falling in love with each other; maybe it was the classic damsel in distress that’s rescued by a dashing knight; maybe I needed some romance in my life because my boyfriend was an ocean and a continent and a half way from me and I was lonely. . . . I dunno. But something about this story and these two just wormed their way into my heart and never left. I will say that I forgot about how SPICY (well, for me it’s spicy) this story was and man oh man was I in for a surprise. I was once again reminded that I am a prude when it comes to scenes like this. 😳

The one thing I really noticed about this is that the chapters are MUCH longer and I think 4-5 chapters from the web novel got condensed into one, so if you’re interested in reading this, be prepared for some long chapters. 📖

Al in all, I had a great time being back with this world and these two awkward lovers, and I’m honestly thinking about getting the published comic book. . . Big thank you goes out to Inklore and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Kim, for literally being my introduction to smutty romantacy. 🫡

Publication date: November 5!

Overall: 4.75/5 ⭐️

This was just absolutely not for me.

First off this needs triggers for SA as it's one of the very first things that happens in the book and it happens more than once.

I understand that Maxi stutters but it's played up so much that it can be quite jarring to read. It takes the miscommunication trope between the main characters to the extreme. Unfortunately I really didn't like either of them.

500 pages is way too long for this. I think it would have been a lot better getting cut maybe in half.

Maximilian (Maxi), the eldest daughter of the Croyso family, grows up being abused by her father. As a consequence of the physical and mental trauma, she develops a crippling inferiority complex about both her stutter and her physical appearance as well as a general lack of self-respect.

Beautiful art and beautiful story. Highly recommended!

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning which drew me in.
This story follows Maxi who is a Lady but completely mistreated by her father and thus married off to his grumpy Knight Rifton basically as a way to get rid of her. Rifton them immediately leaves for 3 years LOL.
When he comes back tho things between them really start to grow and heat up.
I enjoyed the romance between the 2 main characters even tho it started off a bit rough. I wasn't really a fan of how immature Maxi seemed or the miscommunication that kept the 2 from really connecting earlier on.
By the end I was fully on board tho and will definitely continue the series. I'm hoping we get more world building in the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inklore for providing me with and early copy in exchange for an honest review

“Under the Oak Tree,” by Suji Kim

This was such a cute romance where the FMC learns to be herself and in love after living a life locked away. As an abused girl she had 0 confidence and tons of anxiety, and I instantly sympathize with her as a character. There was a lot of miscommunications between the two. I love reading about her growing into herself and getting more confident. It was cute but sometimes slow so I would consider it to be on the cozy read side. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Arranged Marriage
-Abused FMC/Family Abuse

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I did not realize this was also a comic book! I actually read both in tandem. I loved the extra details this book gave to the comic. I liked being able to visualize and see how the illustrations matched the book, This was a good book, good spice and the storyline was interesting. I love the idea of turning the comic into a novel. My husband has agreed to read the comic and I can finally talk books with him! Thank you NetGalley. the Author Suji Kim and Inklore publishing

I really wanted to like this one because I though it was such an interesting idea turning a graphic novel into an actual novel, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. The story started off kind of in a bad place and I just couldn't really get passed it. I can see other people liking it though.

I love this book. I already read the manwha online and was so excited to see the story in book form and I was not disappointed. Love the main characters and the twisty, turns storyline…plus the swoonworthy romance!

Starting off with the SA of the FMC by the MMC was the worst way I have seen a romance start off. Ever. I am legitimately alarmed. Unfortunately, SA is a major trigger for me, and I couldn’t bring myself to continue reading very far past the first two intimate scenes. The blurb and the light-hearted cover design didn’t hint at the dark content, which is a shame.