I wished very badly to like this book but it was just annoying. Both the leads barely had any character development over the course of the book and kept moving in circles. The heri esp was absolutely unbearable for me.

Since I was reading the manghwa I was very excited to see what the story would look like in novel form and asked for an ARC immediately. Under The Oak Tree follows the story of Maxi, the daughter of the duke who has been mistreated since she was young because of her stutter. Due to her mistreatment she lacks self esteem and is often misunderstood. Her father marries her off to a knight, Riftan, and after their marriage he goes off on to battle and becomes a hero. 3 Years apart he comes back and while she thinks he's trying to divorce her he is actually set on taking her back to his land as his lady.
The story has a lot of charm but the beginning is hard to get through because of all the misunderstandings between the two main characters. I loved to see the romance develop between them as Maxi grows in confidence and their trust in each other expands.
I know that there's a lot more story to go through but the novel kind of ends at a weird place as plot is still being set up, there's not really a cliffhanger just a to be continued. But overall I enjoyed myself and do want to see where the story continues from here.

I have yet to read the comic of this but I did enjoy the book! I thought the world building was nice! I did struggle with some of the miscommunications but overall I thought the book did well! I would recommend this book and I know need to pick up the comics! Can’t wait for volume 2!

I loved the webtoon version of Under the Oak Tree, and sadly the novel did not interest me the same way. It starts out too tense and straight into a painfully written sex scene. The addition of narrative did not add more to evoke feeling. It did add to the plot so that part was a positive. Overall, maybe if I had never seen the webtoon this would have been a fun read, but I just couldn't get into it after the horrendous opening.

5/5 STARS

I have been an avid fan of Under the Oak Tree for years, and often credit this series for getting me into manhwa, danmei, manhua, etc. I started out reading this series on Manta, where the comic version was being published. At the time, there were rough translations of the novel floating around, but nothing official. When the official announcement was made regarding Under the Oak Tree's Novel and Comic publication coming this year, I became ecstatic.

Maximilian, also known as Maxi, is the daughter of the Duke of Croyso. All her life, she went unloved, made to feel worthless due to her stutter, and lacks confidence due to her father's awful treatment of her. An arranged marriage between her and Riftan, one of the strongest and most fearless knights of the realm occurs right before he sets off for battle. Unbeknownst to her, or her father, Riftan expected Maxi to be at his castle, and was shocked when he found out she was still at her Father's estate after nearly three years. He comes to take her home as they begin their life together.

Maxi is terrified that Riftan will hate her as her father does, but is surprised when she is treated with love and kindness.
Riftan believes that she was a beloved and cherished daughter of the Duke of Croyso, surrounded by wealth and a lavish lifestyle. thus, he showers her with riches and anything she could dream of as he never wants her to feel like she sacrificed her life to marry someone as low as him.

Throughout this first volume, Maxi learns what it means to be the Wife of Riftan and the lady of their castle, becoming a more confident woman who is loved by him and their people.
Slowly with his love, she begins to grow into a strong confident woman who is loved by him and his people.

Suji Kim has created an incredible tale with moments of suspense, mystery, angst, and love in a medieval-fantasy world with magic, dragons, and monsters.

Thank you so so much to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Inklore for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I see this quickly becoming a new obsession. Although at parts this felt a little repetitive, I can see the potential for this story! I will definitely be keeping my eye out for the continuation. Thank you so much for this advanced copy. I will be picking up a copy for my shelves.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! I read the webtoon and the novel is even better! I love how out MFC steadily grows and develops. And I love a MMC who starts out as a jerk and slowly comes around. Also can we talk about how absolutely perfect the cover is?! It’s gorgeous!

I picked this book up because I liked the cover and description. I never read the comics but I still enjoyed reading this. went back to read the comics and definitely enjoyed the story more in novel form.

Maybe I'm at fault for hoping for more or maybe for having higher expectations but this was unfortunately not it. There was so much miscommunication that was so frustrating, there were moments that had me pulling my hair out. It was so bad. The pacing was too slow and then all of sudden it felt like everything was happening all at once and it didn't work for the romantic storyline. I've read dark romances but this wasn't that? I'm not sure what it was trying to be but it didn't work for me.

I enjoyed this story so much that I was able to finish it in a day. I didn't want to put it down, I even went and found the next part so I can find out what happens next. To me this book is a pretty fast paced book that not only focus on the relationship between Riften and Maxi. It also focus on Maxi learning to over come the physical and emotional abuse that she went through at her family home. She is learning to come into her own and that she is worth more than she thinks. I also feel that Riften is learning how to not be such a tough guy and come off as being this mean person. I am eager to know what will happened once Riften finds out that Maxi has not lived a luxury life.

On another note I like this cover of the book, not that the one for the current volume are not good. The colors in this cover is what initial made me want to read this book. I am glad that I have, I cant wait to read the next volume.

Wow. There was a lot on this book that I wasn't expecting. Warning, lots of sex that isn't fully consensual. I didn't like how mousy the FMC was. She didn't really stand up for herself much and that's kind of a pet peeve of mine. The MC was just, not my cup of tea. He SA'd her and was overall a rude and demanding jerk. Not my favorite. The world building also confused me; like it wasn't that concise. I did like the setting of the castle's and stuff. So if you like the tortured protagonist type non consensual sex stuff you'd like this.

I read this when it was first published as lite novel in small increments on Amazon for kindle, and I immediately got sucked in. The world building, in my opinion is so good. I loved learning about the magic system. Couple that with all that knights entail, and I was completely hooked.

Maxi is the daughter of a powerful duke who despises her for her stutter. She is generally either ignored or mistreated in his household. However, when the duke is called upon by the king to serve in the dragon crusade, he comes up with a clever use for his daughter. Marry her off to lowborn knight who will surely die fighting in his place.

To everyone's great surprise the knight Sir Riftan, not only survives, but becomes one of the most lauded knights of the kingdom. He comes back to claim his wife and we follow Maxi's as she learns to find her voice, confidence, and place in her new household.

I loved seeing Maxi's confidence begin to grow and the different relationships and bonds she formed with the different knights and members of the order. I can't wait for the second novel to be released!

For those who have already read the lite novels, not only is this edition beautiful, but I found the translations to be slightly improved for a better reading experience.

Warning to sensitive readers, this book does contain graphic scenes.

Highlights:
-Dragons!!!
- KNIGHTS!!!!
-Great world building
- Interesting magic system
- Grumpy, but soft on the inside, MMC

When I thought I was getting a graphic novel and found out it was a novel I was skeptical. Boy did that change because this world. The characters. EVERYTHING is magnificent. I immediately pre-ordered this book and the volume 1 bind up!

The main character in this book grows more resilient as you read, although I wish the author didn't write out her stutter. I am hoping in future volumes she gains more confidence and can work through some of her insecurities. The spice was definitely there, and even though most of it is dubcon, it is still refreshing to read about a character dedicated to his wife, even though a seemingly better option has become available. I don't trust Ruth, and I am wondering if more is going to come of that in future volumes. I also wish there was more world building and exploration as Maxi was trapped in her father's castle her whole life, and now she appears to not really have a lot of desire to explore her new home.

2.5/5
The story was just alright. The miscommunication trope was terrible. The FMC and MMC were unrelatable and forgettable.

This story is about a girl who has been abused by her father because of a stutter, who is then given away in marriage to a knight she doesn't know just to keep a war from happening. The day after their wedding, her new husband leaves for 3 years for battle and comes back a hero. Now that he is back, they have a chance to finally get to know each other, but they are both hiding their own insecurities, and they both feel as if they are not worthy of each other. They grow as individuals, and as a couple throughout the book, and fall in love with each other along the way. This was an easy, enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC of Under the Oak Tree, in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge fan of the comic, I enjoyed diving back in to the world of Under The Oak Tree with Maxi and Riftan. It's so satisfying seeing Maxi bloom into the woman she was meant to be with the help of her gruff husband. Riftan is definitely BOOK Husband material. He's a slayer of monsters, very protective, and listens to Maxi's needs.. even helps her come out of her anxious shell.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House and Inklore for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

When I realized that the current manhwa I was reading was getting a novelization, I jumped at the chance to read the first volume. I had read a majority of the manhwa chapters covered by the novel, and I did find myself going back to the illustrations because the pictures themselves gave much more in the sense of describing their facial expressions. Also, the artist's work is absolutely gorgeous and I would recommend reading through the manhwa for sure.

That said, beyond the pretty pictures, this novelization did give more characterization and depth to Maxi as the protagonist. I loved the extra detail of her thoughts throughout the book, and her outlook on her developing relationship with Riftan had an almost realistic slowness to it. It's clear that both characters come with a lot of baggage, and I wished that it was clearer with Riftan as well. I'm still also not sure how I felt about all the spice scenes. On the one hand, man, they were amusing to read because the scenes in the manhwa were definitely tame in comparison. But also, like damn, I felt sort of sorry for Maxi, because Riftan has STAMINA.

The ending of this book did leave me a bit "meh," and I wonder what the reasoning was to end it where it did, since nothing really happened. Or maybe I'm just so used to endings of first books having some kind of cliffhanger. Anyway, I think I enjoyed the manhwa loads better, so I might just continue that instead.

4 stars
Spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️
Emotional damage:😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

For those unaware, a few years back there came a WebNovel from South Korea that took the entire internet by storm. It started off devastatingly slow, with a damsel-in-distress FMC and a too-proud-to-ask-for-anything MMC determined not to show each other their weaknesses but equally obsessed with each other. It ran with a tagline, "A flawless love story of the flawed," through cliffhangers and character growth and transformations that would make you weep openly... and then it just stopped. The author had apparently suffered some illness or injury that prevented her from writing, and for about two years, she simply disappeared from the internet and left the story hanging. But then! Joy! She returned and finished this "flawless love story," maybe in a little bit of a rush, but we're not here to complain! And since then, that WebNovel has been converted into an extremely successful web comic, YouTube sketches, animated shorts, and has even had Kpop idols writing and dedicating ballads to its story and characters.

This is merely the first translated volume of that expansive story, and as such, it falls a little short of those grand accolades if you go in expecting all of the above all at once. The pacing is a bit long-winded, the exposition and set up of our world might feel never-ending to some more used to snappier traditional editing. But the payoff is so worth the build-up, even if we can't yet see it in this installment.

We first meet Maximilian Calypse, the stuttering eldest daughter of one of the richest and most powerful dukes in the country. Three years before the start of the novel, she'd been married off to a relatively unknown knight, Riftan Calypse, in order to spare her father having to enlist in a war. She spent just one traumatizing night with her new husband before he had to go off to the fight in her father's stead. Now, three years later, he's back. Misunderstandings will abound, emotions will run high, tensions will be off the charts. Maxi wants Riftan to believe she's everything her father presented her as--spoiled, beautiful, treasured, someone who has never wanted for anything in her life--even if it's the exact opposite of what she truly is. Riftan, believing himself unworthy of her, wants Maxi to be all those things but for herself, constantly lavishing her in riches and refusing to allow her to lift a finger--even if it goes against what she wants for herself. Their insecurities are almost a complete foil for each other.

Two rather broken people, traumatized by past hurts and neglect, determined to present themselves to each other as far more whole and perfect than they really are, even when the other loves them for all their faults. Slowly over time they learn to better communicate and bridge these gaps, but it takes time and trust. The author brilliantly executes this slowburn in almost direct opposition of the definition of the word--the spice is there and abundant from the very beginning. Riftan--and as she learns to enjoy the more physical side of marriage, later Maxi--are incredibly compatible in bed. It's just in real, honest conversation that they struggle.

There are extremely dark elements to this story that must be forewarned. Parental abuse, PTSD, graphic depictions of war and violence, marital SA, the list goes on and on. This is a story set in a time when women were property, first of their fathers and then of their husbands, and Maxi is often caught in that snare. But through Riftan's careful nurturing and her own burgeoning friendships, she begins to see just how powerful and valuable she really is in her own right.

Because this volume is simply a snippet of the whole, the editing will feel off to those more used to trad published works. The ending isn't an "ending" at all, the story simply just stops after a certain chapter. There is no discernible plot arc within this volume alone, no real climax or resolution. I do think some of this could be cleaned up a little by editing, but I also understand why they may choose to keep it like this, true to the original. Once the rest of the volumes are published, the overarching plotline will be far more easily understood. But it will definitely throw off some readers the way it is now.

If you can stick around through the rather long, slow-paced, meandering beginning, this story is truly one for the ages.

For those who have read this story in other iterations, whether that be Manta or the Amazon editions, I can add that this version is its own translation of the original. I have compared it to those other editions and I do feel that this translation is as accurate to the original, if much better edited for flow and language discrepancies. If you're concerned like I was that the somewhat stilted, choppy translations used before would just be repeated here with a prettier cover, you can rest assured. This edition reads much smoother and more natural.

Thanks to the publisher and the author for providing me an electronic advanced reader copy of this novel via NetGalley!

I hope as drawn to this because of the genre and beautiful cover. Because of pacing and not being able to connect with the characters, this one's not for me. If you like slower pacing and lots of spice this could be a good fit for you.