I’m sorry but I could finish this. The impression in the memory of their first night together felt more like a child being raped. I understand there were warnings but this… still wasn’t expected. Her age doesn’t matter much when things are thought and said that make the main female character seem like a little child.

I really wanted to love this book because I’ve heard amazing things and I was extremely excited to read it. This is a character driven story which will definitely work for some people.

This is the first book I can remember reading that wasn't plot-driven but focused solely on character development. Surprisingly, I couldn't put it down. There were times when it seemed like nothing was happening besides redecorating a house, but I still found it engrossing. Although the pacing was a bit off and choppy at times, I enjoyed it.

I suspect that in the next volume, Maxi will gain confidence, and Riftan will reveal the reasons behind his insecurity and emotional nature. There are hints suggesting he has some kind of magic, with foreshadowing around his abilities, skin temperature, speed, and so on.

The book ended abruptly, which I found disappointing.

I understand that many other reviewers disliked the non-consensual elements at the beginning of the book, and I felt the same way. I struggled with the start and thought Riftan was awful in the way he treated Maxi, making me doubt if I could forgive him later.

However, as the story progressed, I began to understand the characters' motivations and grew to like them. I didn't expect to connect with such a demure, meek, and naive female main character, but I ended up liking Maxi a lot.

Many people said Ruth made the story better, but I didn't care much for him. He seemed one-dimensional to me.

Despite everything, I will read the next book.

I will confess that I have not seen/read the original format, so I think that would have helped. I also realize that this is part of a larger storyline, but I felt the ending was abrupt...not just in a cliffhanger way, but Maxi is in thought and then done. One of my least favorite tropes is (lack of/mis) communication. I realize Maxi has some trauma and has never had any sort of real friendship or relationship or even seen a decent one, but geez. I'm assuming she grows into a more powerful and confident lady going forward. I would have liked to have seen her have a female friend as her servants don't count. I know the area is remote so there aren't a ton of options, but still. Also, we (I guess intentionally...maybe it's in another volume) get very little backstory on the main male character. I realize he has his own trauma/feelings of doubt and unworthiness but why does he act so hot and cold toward Maxi? Also, I am going to guess this is supposed to be written back in the "olden days" Medieval style in terms of how the sexual relations were written (Maxi not understanding her wedding night or her body or not caring about consent/it is her wifely duty so she feels obligated). However, any time the main male character basically mauls her because she gives him an innocent kiss or he complains about blue balls (crude but you get the point) for Maxi simply being around seemed a bit over the top. When they are having sex, there are repeated references to his skin's extreme heat and his sweat. Made me think there was something more to it, like a foreshadowing. Anyway, the writing itself was ok, just a bit too long and drawn out for my taste (some people like more character development vs plot moving forward ratio)....but again, I might like it more in original format. Thanks for the ARC opportunity NetGalley and the publisher.

I appreciated the trigger warnings in this book but I was not a fan of the not-so consensual scenes. I browsed reviews beforehand and was aware but it just was not to my liking. I understand a FMC having a disability which is something you never see in a lead character. But the stuttering made it very difficult to read and I could not get on board with it.

While I read the trigger warnings, I also browsed other reviews and reviewers were correct about not-quite-consensual scenes. I also had a hard time getting into the book with the stuttering written out.

I think this is one of my most-loved reads this year. Definitely did not go the way I expected and way spicier than I had ever hoped. This collects the first few light novels.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This has been one of my favorite manhwas. The art style is absolutely gorgeous and the plot is so romantic. When I saw that the novel version was being published I just knew I had to get my hands on it. There is a bit of miscommunication in this series between our lovely man characters but this is one of the few times it didn’t bother me. It kind of adds to their character development.

I will say, if this is your first time encountering this story just be patient! Riftan is rough around the edges for ,any reasons but he is an absolute simp for Maxi. AS HE SHOULD BE. Maxi’s character development is by far my favorite part of this book. It’s seen from this very first volume and will only get better.

This is a must read series and if you’ve finished this volume and want more? Read the manhwa because Riftan is HAWT. He deserves to be rendered into a masterpiece, as does Maxi. Oh and all the side characters as well. You will not be disappointed.

The synopsis of this sounded great, and the cover is so beautiful, this book looked very promising! Sadly this was a disappointment for me.

There's not much happening in this book, it's heavy focused on romance and character development. I personally prefer more plot driven books. Id be curious to see if more happens in the second volume.

The "spicy" scenes in the beginning of this book are non consensual. I thought Riftan was going to be the villain of this story at first. And I'm unsure if that was intentional. Okay go play by yourself go
The book doesn't make any kind of indication that this is a problem. It's a bit unsettling.

That being said, Riftan is not great in the first few hundred pages of this book. On top of his non consensual stuff, his emotional outbursts, and the way he treated Maxi was infuriating.
Then out of nowhere he is suddenly nice, though there wasn't anything that redeemed his previous behavior. It didn't make sense to me. It felt as if Riftan was two different characters.

The second half of the book Riftan was great! I wish we had him throughout the whole book.

The character I enjoyed the most in this book was Ruth, and he is one of the reasons this book got better in the second half.

I also loved the setting of this book, the medieval, dungeons& dragons, monster hunting, type of vibes is so fun to read about. I wish this book touched more on that.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. The SA in the first section was just too much for me. I skimmed through it and decided to try the next chapter. The husband came back and SA'd the character again. I couldn't do it anymore. The writing was very good and the premise sounds great, but it was just too much for me personally. I'm giving the book a 2 star for the writing, but it was sadly a 1 star book for me.

If you’ve read the comic series on Manta like I have, you won’t find anything new in this novel, but it does give interesting and fresh insight into the characters. The additional words give helpful context.

One downside is that in the novel, some of the dialogue and actions come across way over-the-top, which is more expected in manga, but doesn’t feel right here.

I think I’d recommend the graphic novel vs. the novel.

Like many, I was a fan of the webtoon before coming to the novel. I very nearly DNF'd this book, however, because of the sex scene at the start which was violent, intense, and not fully consensual. While I was able to continue on and came to enjoy the book, I do feel the need to provide that warning for any readers considering picking this up.

Like many others, I started on this series with the webtoon. I was pleasantly surprised to see the novel version pop up in netgalley. I enjoyed getting a little more insight into the characters and a little more "oomph" to the story. I enjoyed this format and think its an excellent companion to the webtoon.

This book was so entrancing to me. I’m obsessed with Maxi and Riftan. At the start of this book I was very worried about reading a whole book on their relationship but it very soon became something I was rooting for. I don’t particularly love the lack of miscommunication but I also think if the miscommunication wasn’t there it would not have the same atmosphere. The only disheartening thing is I cannot immediately read volume 2!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Inklore, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024, but I was unfortunately left disappointed. There were way to many sex scenes in this book for me, many (especially in the beginning) were straight up rape scenes. Our FMC, Maxi, would often tell our MMC, Riftan, no/stop multiple times during these scenes, but he would ignore these requests. His excuse is that he finds it hard to control himself around her. I also didn't like how Riftan was discouraging Maxi from learning magic later on in the book. If it were up to him, he would have her sleep all day so he could have sex all night with her.

Some positives of this book; I really enjoyed some of the secondary characters, particularly Ruth, the sorcerer. He tells it like it is, and Maxi finds a sort of friendship with him. She is able to look to him for help on many occasions, something she really doesn't do with her husband Riftan. I also enjoyed the world we are in. The magic and lore in the story is interesting and I wish we got to see and explore more of it than we did.

While I did enjoy some aspects of this book, I found it hard to get over the multiple nonconsensual sex scenes, so I do not see myself continuing the series in this novel format. There is a graphic novel version of this story I may check out to see what happens later on in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I very nearly DNFed this book. I was absolutely not the intended audience as I was never able to get past the incredibly strict gender boundaries that characters were held to. Early in the book the two main characters end up sleeping together as this is a marriage requirement, this made sense to me as it is meant to be set in a medieval type setting. However, after this, Riftan (the main male character) continues to demand sex from Maximilian (the main female character) despite her quite literally saying "no" and "wait" in many of these encounters, as well as essentially blaming her for every time he was turned on.

While there were trigger warnings included at the beginning of the book in the author's note, they only covered the physical and emotional trauma suffered prior to the start of the book and not the marital rape contained in the story.

I was interested in the world and some of the secondary characters, like Ruth (the sorcerer in the castle), but they couldn't make up for the issues I had with the relationship between the main couple.

I am so excited this story is getting published. I absolutely love the cover art. I have read the webtoon before on Manta, have read some of it on webnovel, and own the kindle books , but this is one I don't mind reading again. There is a lot of Lore and World Building, which I like. Also, there is a lot of romance, which is a definite plus.

So, as the story begins, Maxi thinks she is not worthy of love or anything. She is very timid and shy. She also has a stutter. Which caused her to be secluded and hidden away for most, if not all, of her life. Her father is awful to her and abuses her. She was married to Riftan, and he had to go and slay a dragon in place of her father. Well, 3 years later, Riftan comes back for her, and her father gets into her head about how he is going to want to divorce Maxi and be with the princess instead.

There are a lot of misunderstandings that go on, and most of it is because Maxi won't come forward about anything, and Riftan won't listen. She starts to get better with standing her ground and speaking up more. She starts showing more interest in magic after an attack.

I can't wait to have a Hardcopy and to read the second volume.

This is my honest review, Thank you, Netgalley, Inklore, and Random House publishing for this eArc.

This man is always horny for his wife and he can't keep his hands to himself. The story was interesting, the characters development was good. I loved the gradual development of the main characters as husband and wife despite some misunderstanding and conflict. I hope that the sequel will be amazing as well and I can't wait it!

I can honestly say that this was well done, turning the comic into a novel. It was more detailed. I absolutely fell in love with the character all over again, Maxi, is a character with a stutter that was treated poorly by her father or more like abusive towards her. Riftan is like a bear a bit wild but protective and warm. It gets very intimate in most of their time together, he just wants devour her and she starts to crave him.

I love their story and can't wait to read volume two.

I was an original fan of Under the Oak Tree from when it began releasing on Manta. I had high expectations going in. Overall, the novelization was fairly well done. The story was pretty consistent to the original in content and tone. It also managed to maintain the integrity of the main themes well. I feel like the writing itself was a bit disconnected but otherwise very good!