I don't usually give 1 or 2 stars, but I couldn't find enough good things about this book to give at least 3.
Let's pretend the story is fine, though it isn't, but if you do like that kind of story that's totally great. One thing I would like to say is: PLEASE PUT TRIGGER WARNINGS. I'm not a sensitive reader, but some are and they have the right to know in this book you have rape and violence. The MC says
"no" and "stop" so many times but they are all just ignored.
Being handsome and "nice" does not change the fact that this is rape.
Let's talk about why this novel is not a novel. I don't know who made it into a novel from the webtoon, but it didn't work out. Maybe problems with the translation are to blame as well, but the structure alone is just so bad.
- chapters end in the middle of a conversation, and for no reason at all. No suspense, no plot twist. They end just because they HAVE TO end at a point
- transitions between different scenes are not bad, because they're NOT THERE at all. We go from one scene to the next and everything is just so confusing (MC "returns" to the carriage. The guy "returns" to give her food. She eats and then "returns" back to the carriage??)
- confusing actions that don't make sense physically
- soooo many repetitions are strange choices of words
I won't say more. If you enjoy the story, that's awesome, but it makes me so sad to see so many 5 star reviews for a novel that can't even be called a novel. If you are interested, I suggest you go for the original webtoon.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/ Inklore for the e-arc!

Under the Oak Tree is about Lady Maximilian and her arranged marriage to Sir Riftan who is one of the top commanders in their country. Maxi is unhappy with this arrangement and believes her husband dislikes her especially after he leaves mere days after their nuptials. My first experience with Under the Oak Tree was through the manwha on Manta. I knew that fans of the series would rave about the light novel and I eventually wanted to check it out for myself. Right off the bat, I can say the edition mock-ups look great so that's a plus for the series. Outside of that, I can say the story is fine. For me, this just gave me some added context with slower pacing. I like Maxi as a main character and as someone who is ahead in the story, I can say the audience's opinion of her changes as time goes on. The same can be said with Riftan as well but I will note that this does not excuse the sexual assault in any way. Outside of the main characters, the plot does ramp up and we get backstory on the country's affairs and Riftan's relationship with the crown. If you are a preexisting fan of this story, then this novel will be a great addition to your physical collection on appearance alone. However, if you are hesitant I will say the story does get better and maybe give the manwha a try if you haven't already.

First, the cover of this book is beautiful! I loved the story, it stays true to the manga. That said, this volume is very detailed and slow. Not a whole lot of plot going. In my opinion, it could’ve been considerably shortened. I still love the relationship between the two main characters and will continue with the series. I will also be reading the manga counterpart once it’s published.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I thought the pacing was really good and kept me interested in the plot. I liked Maxi but I had a hard time believing in her relationship with Riftan. None of their interactions really indicated true affection and developing love between them. It’s really superficial, like I’m being told they care for each other, but not shown. I have a hard time viewing this as a romance, when their relationship is actually quite toxic and doesn’t read as anything more than physical, and a good portion of their physical relationship having dubious consent. I think there is potential here for their relationship to change into something of substance and for Riftan to be a character I enjoy, but I wish this book had given me more of that because at this point, I am not invested.

<b>Trigger warning for SA. DNF at 7%.</b>

This was the most egregiously disgusting depiction of romance I have ever read—and that depiction all takes place in the first chapter. This author really isn’t trying to bury the lead here from her audience.

To start, the way stutters are depicted is over the top and distracting in the text. In the singular chapter I read, Maxi s-s-stutters l-l-like th-th-this c-c-constantly. It’s extremely unpleasant to read. Is there not another way to depict a stutter that doesn’t hurt the eyes and the brain? It comes across as very amateur and poorly written, especially when it occurs with every single sentence the FMC speaks.

To top it off, Maxi has a flashback to the night of her wedding. Now, this is fantasy. I get that marriage in older eras was approached like a business transaction, with consummation being required of women who were often treated as no more than cattle while being held in ignorance like children, unaware of any education surrounding sex. Thus, the women were often subjected to marital rape. But why—in a fantasy—would you set this as your stage? She flashes back to her wedding night, featuring the male hero of the book, as she remembers her own marital rape in sickening detail.

EXCERPT ONE:

<blockquote><i>Her struggles and protests were useless. There was no chance of escaping his searing mouth and rough caress.
(…)She could not believe that something so grotesque was happening to her.
(…)Her body had been so tense that it was now drained of strength. She was no longer capable of struggling.</i></blockquote>

EXCERPT TWO:

<blockquote><i>Close to tears, she scratched at his arms.
“It…It h-hurts…”
“Too tight…”
Droplets of sweat trickled down his neck and dripped onto her face. As she writhed in an attempt to flee, he quivered slightly and secured her waist with both of his hands. A deep line creased his forehead.
“Just…stay still…”
“H-hurts…It hurts…!”
“Don’t move, damn it—ugh!”</i></blockquote>

First of all, the ellipses have to stop. There were seven of them in that second block quote. I had to wrap my own ellipses in parentheses in the first excerpt to differentiate between the author’s and my own. Second of all, this is horrifying. How the fuck are we supposed to root for their romance? Or this man at all? I don’t care that this is just a product of “the time” because this is a fantasy and the author made the deliberate choice to depict marital rape in her novel when she didn’t have to.

There were so many other options. He could’ve staged a scene that would “prove” they consummated without actually forcing her to do so. He could’ve made her comfortable and explained what they would have to do at <b>minimum</b>. Instead, he let her shake in terror while he commanded she strip naked and then forced himself on her. She pulls away? She struggles? He holds her tighter. He forces her to keep going. Deplorable.

He even drops the good ole classic “I won’t stop once we begin.” As if he’s a dog with a triggered prey drive. Like be fuckin for real you rapist pig.

It’s especially sickening because Maxi cannot verbally reject him. If she does, he can annul the marriage (which he threatened would happen if she didn’t comply, as if there weren’t other options on the table; see above for my ideas on how else he could’ve handled it). If this did come to pass, it would send her back to her abusive father who she already believes would “kill her with a timely ‘accident’ before the annulment was complete.” So she has no ability to consent here since the setup forces her to be at her husband’s mercy. And what little mercy there was.

After the flashback ends, MMC sexually assaults Maxi AGAIN. He nitpicks her reception of him after he’s been off fighting dragons for three years and treats her with utter disdain. I understand there is an element of miscommunication and misunderstanding here, but the second she starts crying because of his verbal flaying, he shoves his tongue down her throat. Then he pushes her onto a sofa and tries to SA her.

<blockquote><i>Riftan’s tongue twisted and tangled with Maxi’s, roving over her teeth. She found it harder and harder to breathe. She shoved at his chest, but he clung more firmly to her.</i></blockquote>

Even now, in present day, she’s struggling against his advances but he persists in attacking her. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is our fucking love interest.

I have never in my life DNFed a book after one chapter and would never have conceived of doing so on an ARC that was sent to me. But I cannot subject myself to the romanticization of a rapist.

<b>1 star. </b>

This is a very difficult book to review for me. I was entirely unprepared for the non-con at the beginning of the story. It does eventually become a romantic story with cute moments but I feel like the MMC never actually tries to understand the FMC. He sort of just yells at her, pats her hair, then takes her to bed. I kept waiting for him to become more understanding of her situation and problems with her speech impediment or for her to tell him but it never seemed to happen. Though it was beautifully written and detailed, I didn’t find anything about the main characters that made me want to come back for the second book. If this particular trope is in your interest, then I think you would like it a lot, as it is very well done

While I am sure that this is a great story. After reading about the first half of the book, I am not able to continue to read it. This is just not a story that I am interested in. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read it I am not able to give it a good rating for this reason.

Love a good webnovel and can't stop collecting gorgeous hard copies with sprayed edges, ribbon bookmarks, and foiled design work? This one contains the first 76 chapters of the webnovel and I am going to have to go see the rest, I can't stop here!

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a busy reader, finding time to lose myself in new worlds is a rare and cherished luxury. However, "Under the Oak Tree: Volume 1" by Suji Kim made it worth every precious moment. This enchanting novel swept me away on an epic journey filled with magic, romance, and compelling characters. The story of a woman seeking to rewrite her fate amid the backdrop of a richly imagined fantasy world was utterly enthralling. Kim's skillful storytelling and intricate world-building created an immersive reading experience that allowed me to escape from the demands of everyday life for a while.

The protagonist's strength and determination resonated deeply with me as I navigated my own challenges. Her journey served as both an inspiration and an absorbing escape from reality. From the lush descriptions of the oak tree to the captivating interactions between characters, every aspect of this novel kept me eagerly turning pages late into the night.

If you're looking for a captivating read that offers both escapism and emotional depth, "Under the Oak Tree: Volume 1" is definitely worth adding to your reading list. It's a beautifully crafted tale that will transport you to another world while also providing moments of introspection and connection with its relatable themes. I can't wait to continue this enchanting series!

This series is the reason why I started to read manhwas on Manta.
Under the Oak Tree is a great story! The cover is so gorgeous!
I started with Maxi and Riftan back in 2021, later and I was told about the novels. I didn't see any difference between this first volume to the one on Kindle, but I´m really glad that both the novel and the manhwa are going to be on printed.
What I hope is that both will be translated into more languages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The storyline was amazing and I couldn't put it down at all. Worth the read!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Publishing Group All opinions are honest and my own.

Rating:3.5 out of 5 stars (rated up)

TW: classim, violence, war, death, brutalization of children, child soldiers, corruption (some of these trigger warnings may be from later in the series, but would rather over-provide than under)

This series was first introduced to me via way of TikTok ads for Manta. I was receiving constant ads and finally wanted to know the story of the insecure, beautiful red-headed woman and the brawny soldier. I downloaded the app and quickly devoured all the available seasons in 2022 .Then while scrolling around Amazon I found kindle novels of the various seasons, so I started buying those. So I'm sure you could imagine my surprise and excitement when I saw that UNDER THE OAK TREE was picked up by a traditional publisher and would receive a gorgeous edition. I did not notice a ton of difference outside of some editing between this version and the original version I read. If you're a Manta reader, know that this novel follows the comic serialization very well, but adds some more insight as we get to take a dive into Maxi's head.

For your awareness this is a single point-of-view (POV) from the point of Maxi the lonely and ill-fated daughter of the noble Croyoso family. Her father arranges a marriage with the renowned, and young general Riftan. They get married and then Riftan goes off to war for three years, comes back and takes Maxi away and our story progresses from there. Both of our characters are insecure in their relationship for different reasons. Maxi has anxiety, which has only been heightened by her stutter which she has been chastised and bullied for her whole life. Her father is a horrible, power hungry man who never showed his daughter genuine love or kindness. Riftan was raised as a peasant and had to work his way up through military exploits to gain his status. This is a magical society with magic, so there are mages and mythical creatures like dragons, adding a layer of danger and excitement.

The first volume is the hardest to get through because much is revealed as the story goes along, but things seem rather rough and intense at the start. I'd say to give this a try, but be patient. Also this work is translated from Korean, so there are some elements which may be unfamiliar to readers who do not read any literature which originates in Korea or other Eastern Asian countries. I'm trying to remain as spoiler free as possible, but these characters, if you let them, will connect with you and bury into your heart. Riftan and Maxi - I'll always be cheering for you two to see the other and stop projecting your own insecurities into a situation which you think is negative.

This book is really hard for me to rate. I personally did not enjoy it. I see that is was translated, so I’m sort of hoping some of the story was lost in the translation, because I found it uninteresting and very cliche. I was frustrated by the weak female character and found her hard to relate to. I forced myself to read the whole book, hopeful that Maxi would undergo some growth and gain confidence but to my surprise the story ended abruptly. Hopefully she does gain these things in the next book, but I cannot bring myself to read them. Everytime I thought the main characters were finally going to make some progress with their terrible communication, it became a love scene. The love scenes were frequent and very dubious consent. She actually says no a few times and he ignores her. The writing implies that she enjoys it, but it wasn’t up my alley. The lead male was jealous, aggressive, demanding, and possessive. Was not a fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy, I appreciate you and your generosity very much!

Sigh. This book was slow going at first which is how most fantasy type books are for me though but I have never connected more with a character than I did to Maxi.
The way she feels about herself, how she keeps it mostly away from Riftan, and how others treated her in some moments, truly did bring me to tears.

I can’t wait for the second volume!

I loved the webtoon of this so was super excited to get the novelization. I will say the story has a hard time translating this way. I believe it could have been more flushed out with more information about Max and the Duke and why they act the way they do, The early romance scenes were....awkward. But if you're a light novel person youll like this romance and its absolutely beautiful.

honestly i had to dnf this book because of how uncomfortable it made me. TRIGGER WARNING; rape. the mc says no and stop multiple times. between that and the sporadic writing style, i just couldn’t get myself to finish it

Beautifully done! I read the comics and loved them but always struggle with animated versions a bit and wish they had written out options - this is exactly that and done so so well!

I'm not gonna lie, the beautiful cover art is what drew me in and for some reason I thought this would be a graphic novel. Whoops!
I felt like I got dropped into the middle of a story that I was missing context for due to not reading the webcomic this is based on. But I found my footing eventually. It's a classic tale of forced marriage and constant miscommunication (really annoying tbh) that wore on me by the time I finished. Perhaps I'm just not the target demographic for this story, but while the cover was stunning, the content did not appeal to me nearly as much.

I was initially drawn to this book by the captivating cover art. Its beautiful design and striking color scheme caught my eye. My interest grew even more when I realized this chapter book was based on a webcomic I had enjoyed in the past. Knowing how much I liked the webcomic, I was confident I would enjoy the book as well.

Since the story originated as a webcomic or manhwa, the pacing of the book feels a bit off. While I still enjoyed it, it's worth noting for those who might struggle with pacing. I particularly appreciated Maxi’s character and her mental struggles throughout the book. Her growth was often hindered by Riftan, our male lead. Maxi isn’t a strong-willed character, largely due to her history of abuse, and Riftan’s dominating personality means he isn’t as accepting of her as he should be.

Due to the nature of this adaptation, the book's conclusion felt incomplete. This is understandable since the story isn’t finished yet. I’m eager to see what happens next with our characters in the next installment.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Suji Kim, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I tried multiple times but ended up DNFing AT 35 %

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.