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.

I loved this novel so much. This novel is a well writen story of Maximilian Calypse a beautiful women, who has a stuttering disability. Her father the Duke of Croyso belittles her and physically hurts her because of her flaws. After being forced to marry Riftan Calypse, her father makes it clear that if Riftan a simple mercenary that have become a knight, decides to divorce her she will suffer a torture worse than death.
After 3 years Riftan takes Maxi to Anatolia where they find themselves making love, she gets better with her disability and also learns healing magic. Riftan adores Maxi and their love grows everyday.

I love this book so much the characters, and world building were excellent. I can't wait for Volume 2.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy. My opinions are personally writen and voluntary.

I've loved the web comic since sometime during season 1 and was excited to see the novelization coming out. I deeply enjoyed this. It was similar to the comic but gave just enough additional information to make it worth going through the story again. Getting inside Maxi's head and seeing how her relationship with those around her evolves. I felt like I knew Maxi and Riftan better after this.
I can't wait to read the next novelization and see where it takes Maxi and Riftan!

I had followed this story previously when it was releasing as a webcomic on Manta, which I absolutely loved, so I couldn’t wait to dive into the novel version. If you’re hesitant on fantasy, this is definitely a fantasy light read choosing to focus more on traditional medieval elements of knights and squires with the addition of mages and monsters. This also focuses more on the evolving romance between Maxi and Riftan as Maxi tries to understand her role in Riftan’s world. As someone who isn’t a fan of the miscommunication trope, so much of the book could’ve been addressed had Maxi and Riftan simply talked with each other. However, given how Maxi was raised, it’s not unsurprising that she’s not comfortable expressing her opinions and emotions. I did love seeing how Maxi grew and evolved through this volume, and I really enjoyed her friendship with Ruth, though Ruth would likely scoff at the label. The biggest pitfall this book succumbs to is having a full overarching plot. Each chapter has its own mini plot but there isn’t the same feel for the book as a whole. I’m hoping more thought is given to that in the next volume. Overall, though, I enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

I’m really bummed that this wasn’t for me. Right from the beginning, I didn’t like the way Max was spoken to by anyone, and I just felt bad for her and wanted more for her. It was hard for me to really feel like I could connect with her when I mostly just felt pity, and I didn’t love that.

I looked at the artwork for the webtoon, and loved having a visual of the characters + the special edition hardcover that’s coming out is absolutely stunning, so I really do hope people pick this up and love it more than I did.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

actual rating: 4.25. wait!!! don’t throw tomatoes yet!! please just listen to me first!! the Manta comic has had a chokehold on me for years. i am tuned in for every update. it is a guilty pleasure of mine, okay?? we all have vices. when reading this, i was surprised to find that the comic follows the novel very closely! maybe it’s because i am used to bad book-to-show adaptations, but the comics follow the novel word for word. this just proves that Maxi and Riftan remain on top 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ Ruth can go kick rocks though

I was really excited to start this because I loved the graphic novel but as an actual novel this was unfortunately not for me. I struggled a lot reading this book. I did enjoy the story but there was a lot of miscommunication which is not my favorite trope. Others may like this though!

⋆¾ — this was okay, kind of? think i may have requested this thinking it was the manhwa version and not the novelization (my inability to read the blurb before requesting things will be my downfall). it's unfortunate, because i actually read the first six episodes of the webtoon, and it's much more compelling in that format.

the blurb is very misleading, so i think it's actually good i went in with no expectations. "this is not a fairytale." it is, complete with stock characters with stock backgrounds in a very stock romance. riftan is the cold duke of the north archetype ml, despised by high nobility because of his lowly background, and is always away from home because he has to fight monsters. maxi is the abused daughter of high nobility, neglected in favor of her half-sister. there's even ruth, the cold, sarcastic sorcerer character. the other characters are interchangeable with each other, with how much they dislike maxi being their only distinguishable traits. while this describes 80% of all european historical romance fantasy manhwas, most successful ones do have a little individual flair to separate themselves from the rest. under the oak tree does not. (or maybe there's just no beautiful gowns in the light novel to distract me. who knows.)

"maxi will find herself and her courage, and discover that she is anything but powerless." nope! she never finds herself. her confidence "vanishes" or "evaporates" every other page when she's trying to accomplish something and then she regains it minutes later (is it really regaining anything if it is this shaky?) not because of her own capabilities but because she remembers that riftan likes her. she uses the memory of him smiling at her once as fuel throughout this entire story. that's not really "finding herself" to me.

95% of the plot is the romance, and considering the book is 500 pages long, one would think that there would be at least some development in maxi's and riftan's relationship. one would be wrong. there is no communication between the two of them. riftan starts out by literally sexually assaulting her. there's no apology or conversation about this after. nothing. and maxi truly does like him and is open to his advances, but he just starts pawing her two minutes after they first meet without verbalizing anything. she's an isolated virgin who has no friends, hasn't left her house in five years, doesn't even know what sex is. of course, she's terrified of him. he's continously pushy about sex and strips her anywhere, in front of anyone, with no care for her feelings, so it appears strange and icky even when she does reciprocate. because whether or not she reciprocates his desire is never his concern. there's a sex scene almost in every paragraph, which is questionable because not only does it add nothing to the romance, it heavily detracts. maxi and riftan have exactly three nonsexual scenes together (where they're alone and not surrounded by servants or knights). this is in a 500 page book, mind you. it gets to the point where maxi herself is surprised he wants to spend time with her outside the bedroom the first time he takes her out. and this first scene they have together? it's at 60% of the book. as in 300 pages. ??? is this even a romance at this point??? the only person to have authentic conversations with maxi, show caring towards her person, and try to help her regain her courage is ruth. riftan cares about nothing but his own ego, to the point where he starts screaming at her when she tries to learn magic and better herself. he's consistently condescending towards maxi and you get the sense he loves—fetishizes even—her weak nature so he can get an ego boost about providing for the supposedly rich ducal heir. i know maxi is shy and scared and won't talk about her home life, but what's insane is that riftan never even asks. that one horse riding scene at 60% is the first and last time he shows any concern about her likes and dislikes.

and side note: ron, roy, and laura are not fairy names. they're somebody's boomer grandparents from oklahoma. this is probably the least dislikable thing about this book, but the ridiculous names in european setting manhwas always make me cackle. like that one emperor named ebenezer? in tears.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

I was expecting this to be a cute novelization of the WEBTOON, but half way through all I got was 90% sex scenes and 10% plot - and the 10% plot was not enough to keep me hooked

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Unfortunately, this was not a book I enjoyed. The main characters are not likable, there is barely a plot, and the story is much too long for nothing of importance to happen. There was nothing of interest that happened in this first volume that would make me need to pick up second.

Additionally, the love story is not well-written. Maxi and Riftan are forced to marry and he basically SAs her on their wedding night and it is brushed off because they "needed to consummate the marriage." Later on, she continually tells him to stop or requests to not be overly affectionate in public, and he constantly ignores her. Riftan is made out to be insatiable in the bedroom and his entire personality is basically that he is the toughest man alive but also constantly horny for Maxi.

I am not saying others would not like this book, but I don't think I can recommend it to my friends

First, a big thank you to NetGalley and Inklore for the ARC of Suji Kim’s novel “Under the Oak Tree: Volume 1" – “Most fairytales end with a wedding and a happily-ever-after—but this is no fairytale. The updated and official translation of Under the Oak Tree, the #1 webnovel on MANTA.”

I had previously seen this advertised to me as the webtoon but never ending up checking it out even though this story is right up my alley. So, I was very excited to see this on NetGalley and wanted to check out the now translated novels. Keep in mind this is the first volume of several.

The world is pretty straight forward, not much we haven’t seen before in terms of a fantasy world. We follow Maximillian ("Maxi" for short), a young woman with a pronounced stutter. She's the daughter of the richest noble in the land, Duke Croyso, who has abused and hidden away Maxi for most of her life. He marries her off to a lowborn knight, Riftan Calypse, who, after marrying Maxi, is sent on a seemingly impossible campaign for three years. Riftan defies the odds and emerges a hero, so much so that even the King wants Riftan to marry his daughter.

I do love my share of romance novels set in the medieval period. With that said, “Under the Oak Tree” has a dynamic that is not usually seen in these types of books. Books today really feature the sassy, headstrong, beautiful female leads that swagger through the book and their bad boy, disgustingly handsome, rich, popular counterpart with a tragic backstory. But “Under the Oak Tree” gives us two very insecure individuals doing their best.

Maxi has lived a life of being abused and told not to speak. She's been compared to a younger sister who is supposedly an even better version of her but without any of Maxi’s differences. Riftan has spent his youth trying to prove himself as a worthy knight. Their insecurities really play off each other in unique ways. Riftan believes Maxi does not see him as worthy and lavishes riches and constantly questions if she is unhappy away from the wealth of the Croyso castle. Maxi believes that if she lowers her walls for a moment, Riftan will abandon her and see her for the charlatan she believes herself to be.

It is clearer that Riftan is shown to be quite agitated. The beginning of their sexual relationship is hard to read, with Riftan treating Maxi as his object. They do find their way eventually but keep this in mind while reading. They have a weird and kinda messy relationship, but I really liked seeing it evolve and develop.

One issue that I do have is that the pacing of the novel felt a little awkward at times. Timelines don’t make sense, for example Maxi has three years at the castle and in that time, she never makes it her own. It takes a very long time for Maxi to get to Anatol, and then Maxi has the castle decorated and remodeled in 8 days. And in that time, Riftan goes to the Capitol, attends a celebration, and returns to Anatol. It feels as though there is a lot of time spent just hanging around, which really slows down the pacing.

This is a romantic fantasy that has some elements you just never see. A female lead with a disability! A relationship that's a sort of reverse slow burn, but then is...a slow burn? It's drawn out for sure, but there is something just really addicting about the characters and story.

I totally recommend this story for those who love a good little spicy romance mixed with magic and old knight tales. I am definitely going to be purchasing the physical copy of this book when it comes out on November 5th!

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh I am so happy to be done with this book. I got this as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. Fist to note this is was a Web comic that got turned into an actual comic book. that’s now being turned into a novel.
This book is so infuriating because I honestly don’t know if we’re supposed to like the main male character. I’m uncomfortable with him and I don’t know if I’m supposed to be or not which made reading this very difficult. Also, the main character hid so many things from all the other characters and that just annoys me because there was no reason. I understand her probably not trusting because she doesn’t want to seem weak because of everything that happened with her father, but it was still so annoying that we went the whole book with her not telling our main character some pretty important things. This definitely kind of was a read hate but not really. I just felt uncomfortable like I said with the main male character and so I didn’t want to continue with the story but I wanted to see if maybe he got some redemption but I’m not sure if he did honestly. I definitely won’t be picking up the next book. Also this book had so much smut and it was dubious consent most of the time.

I did struggle with this one a bit, but that was on me. I did enjoy the story though and the authors writing.