Did i read this already? yes.
Did i still sign up for an arc? double yes!!

The art is so beautiful, it’s like visually stunning, so I want to thank you for my eyes being blessed. This is the novel which allows us to have better information and more clarity where the comic failed. The story line wasn’t entirely the best for myself but that’s a personal matter however it was entertaining nonetheless. I say give this a go.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with this arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️
💭My thoughts: I read this comic before just the first volume so I was excited to read the novel. It is just as good! Riftan is so drool worthy, Maxi has my heart everytime with her adorable stuttering, and Ruth is just as fine. Now I look forward to more!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I have not read any of the previous works so I did not have any knowledge of the story when I began. Unfortunately I am not the happiest with this book. I felt like there were so many misunderstandings and I was very uncomfortable with the intimate moments. There were so many times I wanted to quit because I felt like these moments for SA. The first encounter I felt both parties actually wanted to be together was 61% in. I’m glad we got there but I would have DNF’d already if this wasn’t an ARC. The reason I still rated it 3 stars was because I did like the change in the FMC and enjoyed the parts when the MMC wasn’t around. Especially when the knights showed their support for her by allowing her to help them. I thought it was a sweet moment between the characters.

I have been hearing about his for a while so I was very excited to get a ARC copy. Thank you Netgalley. This book is well crafted and so beautiful. A lot of details I love it! However it’s only Volume 1 not the entire story. So hopefully we will not have to wait for to long. Read it.

This essentially reads as self indulgent fanfiction, but drags on too long and without any signifanct growth in characters or relationships to have any payoff.

Firstly thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
This book was probably the most disappointing read of the year unfortunately. I did stick this book all the way to the end so I could fairly review it but every time I stopped reading I didn’t want to pick it up again.
As mentioned by another reviewer there is straight up SA in the first chapter with no prior warning. As a dark romance reader this threw me for a loop.
The most frustrating part of this book is that NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS. Like yes the characters are doing things but there is zero plot.
With there being no plot there surely must be some good character development right? WRONG. While Maxi had the most growth it was still abysmal. She’s constantly trapped in this imposter syndrome mentality and it’s exhausting every time it gets brought up. And Ryftan is just annoying with his constant outbursts and then acting like they never happened.
And this these characters is constantly miscommunicate or just straight up not communicate at all.
But surely the romance parts must be good and well written? Again NO. While spicy scenes happen often they’re just so cut and dry. I’m talking no foreplay and they seem like they come out of no where.
Lastly wtf was that cliffhanger?? Nothing happened the whole book but somehow felt like the first book was incomplete.

TLDR:
If you want to read this I guess give it ago? But I’m easily entertained and I did not enjoy this for the majority of the time.

Single POV, Spicy, Arranged Marriage, Fantasy, Protective & Possessive MMC, Touch Her & Perish, Found Family, Opposites Attract, Sheltered FMC

Under the Oak Tree is a fantasy arranged marriage romance between a sheltered FMC and one of the kingdom's most renowned knights. Maxi has suffered abuse from her father her entire life and assumes her marriage will be the same only she never could have imaged how caring, possessive, and protective her husband is despite his rough nature. Watching Maxi and Riftan fall in love is heart melting as Riftan struggles to balance his duty with his need to provide for her. Looking forward to the next book to see what lies ahead for Maxi and Riftan.

I was immediately drawn to this book because the cover was so gorgeous. I did not know that it is originally based on a web comic, but I did kind of get a sense of that in the writing. While I enjoyed the story and Maxi and Riftan's relationship growth with each other, I did feel that the writing was a little bare bones where I feel that the comic might have conveyed more. I also did not know that there were trigger warnings for this books so the content surprised me when it came up. But, overall I enjoyed this book.

I think this is one of the coziest happily ever after books I’ve read so far. The spice was spicin’. Be warned, it was a little to difficult to read in the beginning so please be sure to read the warnings. It was a little intense in the MCs earlier memories and flashbacks of intimacy BUT as you read on you’ll understand why. The FMC is extremely timid. Shy, and fearful because of such a hard past dealing with so much abuse and hate from her father and sister. It in a way gives a similarity to Cinderella and how she was treated but much more intense. I honestly couldn’t put it down. I loved seeing her grow into the more confident woman she is and how her past had given her such a loving and humble nature. I loved this book and I cannot wait to buy the physical copy for myself!

4/5 - So good! A good story in a wold that is ultimately well constructed. Though this first book was a little rough for me given the dubious consent, meek FMC, and seemingly curt husbando, it was a pretty hard for me to get into. But, having persevered and finished the entire series, I have a much greater appreciation for this book given the character growth that occurs throughout. Definitely a book for you if you like epic love stories and/or fanfiction!

Also, just a heads up to all my readers out there, the novel came BEFORE the webcomic, and is ultimately about 10 or so books long. This book may not seem like much at first, but that's because it is one part of MANY and is necessary for the rest of the series to shine! It was originally a Korean series that was translated into English, which may help to explain the writing style. Enjoy!

Under the Oak Tree was not for me. I felt disconnected from the characters and the romance. I wonder if the graphic novel would've been better for me to read instead.

I had heard good things about the comic version of Under the Oak Tree and jumped at the chance when I saw it was available in the catalog. All I saw was a gigantic knight and stuttering lady in the synopsis. I'm in. Say no more. Maxi and Riftan were a very sweet couple, but it took a long time for them to be comfortable with each other. She constantly flinched at his touch, remembered abuse from her father, and wasn't given the birds and the bees talk before her wedding. A total recipe for disaster. Thankfully, over time they learned to trust each other and developed an intimate marriage. The writing did get repetitive at times and Maxi never knew what she wanted, but I did read this book in one sitting. All I can say is it's a wonder she didn't end up pregnant at the end of this volume. That woman was resembling a double stuffed Oreo by the final chapter, if you catch my drift. I'm leaning towards picking up the second volume when it's released. Enormous knights in cold armor have me standing at attention and it doesn't take much convincing. I wonder what direction their story will take Under the Oak Tree.

Loved this so much I bought the special edition AND started reading the comic. I look forward to further installments! I think this is a great way to introduce American readers to Korean fantasy novels.

I am not the target audience for this book. I originally requested this book because the cover art and sprayed edges are so beautiful. But after reading about 10% I realize that the characters aren’t working for me.

It feels very surface level and the MFC is too timid and anxious for me. I did switch over to the webtoon where this originated from and I did enjoy that slightly more than I did in novel form.

Maxi is put into an arranged marriage with Lord Calypse, the most famous knight in the kingdom by her father, Duke Croyso. Maxi, being abused by Lord Croyso throughout her life because of her stutter, is naive in the ways of the world when she is wed to her husband, who consummates the marriage and the next day abruptly leaves for a war with a dragon. Three years later, after returning from this dragon war, he comes to collect a stunned Maxi, who has been told by her father and others that he would no longer want her because he was offered the hand of the beautiful princess. Maxi is whisked away by Riftan (her husband) to his estate in the mountains and finds that even though his demeanor can be prickly, he is deeply insecure that she may not want him. As they learn more about each other over time, will true love bloom between these two arranged spouses?

I liked this book, but not all the way up to giving it a five star rating. I did find that the writing style was a bit stilted and felt like that may be a translation issue? I did not read the original webcomic (unlike me, I know), but I did think that this felt like the novelization of an anime at times. While I did ultimately like Maxi’s character, it is a bit annoying and frustrating how the two main characters never seem to be able to communicate in the beginning of the story. Riftan is always convinced that Maxi dislikes him because he isn’t highborn and Maxi is convinced that Riftan won’t like her because of her father’s constant cruelty regarding her stutter. Riftan is definitely unlikeable at times and (TW!) their first encounter into the spice realm feels pretty non-consensual and is explained as being less Maxi not wanting to and more Maxi being unsure of what to do. It still felt a little icky, though, in my opinion, and I could have done without it.

The rest of the spice (and it is plentiful) was alright. Not all my thing, but I can see how others might like it. It does tend more toward being spice-heavy and plot-lite, so if you’re not into that, then I’d suggest skipping this book. If that’s not a deal-breaker for you (and it’s not for me), then this may be to your liking. Having not read the webcomic, I’m not entirely sure how it compares to the original. However, having skimmed through a little of the original just now, I would say that while the main plot points seem the same, the webcomic seems to somehow go into more detail into Maxi’s point of view, which I would’ve appreciated more of in the novel. However, I found this to be an overall pleasant read and would recommend it to others.
If you’re looking for some anime-type smut that somehow manages to not be too dark even though it deals with some unpleasant subject matter, I’d give this one a try.

I thought this was an ebook of the graphic novel, but was pleasantly surprised that this was a real novel NOVEL. Please be wary of the content warnings. If you love older historical romance and role playing fantasy like DND then you will love all the magical references. My only complaint is that this first novel, or Volume 1, is not a complete story arc and ends rather abruptly. I am unsure when the next volume will be published so that was a miss for me.

Originally, I read this story when it was a webcomic on Manta, and I absolutely loved the story so when I saw that it was being adapted to a novel I was so excited.

Overall I did like the story however, I found myself constantly wanting more emotional development between Riftan and Maxi. Typically I am okay with CNC, but I found myself getting slightly uncomfortable with how the romantic scenes were initiated and that Maxi just gave in to please Riftan to fulfill her marital duties. It felt like Riftan just constantly wanted to jump Maxi’s bones at every single interaction they had, and there wasn’t a deeper emotional connection between them on Riftan’s end. We do see more growth and character development as Maxi finds her voice and comes to being able to stand on her own. There is definitely a miscommunication trope throughout the entire novel between the main characters and they constantly struggle to express their true feelings to each other. I enjoyed the representation of someone with a speech impediment, and being able to experience her perspective and feelings throughout the novel’s development is a refreshing point of view. When comparing the manga and the novel I definitely prefer the webcomic more. I felt that there were a lot of rewritten portions in this novel that made the interpretation of scenes vastly different from the Manga which in turn resulted in conflicting feelings of this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest unbiased review.

2/2.5 ⭐️

Under The Oak Tree is a book with some magic, monsters, castles and romance.

The romance had quite an interesting, and disturbing start to it, but it did develop some. There are major triggering warnings to watch for in the spice, as the MMC never asks if she wants to be physical and just takes, even if she doesn’t want him to. She does seem to eventually enjoy it, but be mindful of that.

The storyline just seems kind of lost to me. I’m unsure of what the plot and conflict actually is.

I do enjoy the magic happening, but there wasn’t much of it until the end. The FMC had a stutter, and I did enjoy the representation of that. However, she does endure abuse and shame because of it.

The FMC is very…. Ashamed and anxious almost the entire book. I was really hoping it would get better, but it’s a slow journey to confidence.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. It ended so abruptly and that was really disappointing. I wish I could give this a better review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Pub for the read.

Publish date: 11/5/24

DNF at 10%. This was difficult to read. The opening marital rape, uneven dialog and unusual pacing put me off. I know the intent was to present the web novel true to form, but this needed an editor for those of us unfamiliar with its previous iterations.

Under the Oak Tree is a novel with the main focus of self discovery and empowerment. While there are scenes that are explicit and controversial the bones of the book are solid. While I was surprised and taken back by there being SA depicted in the first chapter I wasn't thrown from the story of Maxi's journey to find herself. I actually really enjoyed seeing her small steps into becoming more confident and self assured. The romance is very heavy in this book and the only draw back I have is that it didn't seem like much really happened. I would also say that the content/trigger warning should be more detailed as to what exactly it is that's in the book.