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A review by rays_reads
Under the Oak Tree: Volume 1 (The Novel) by Suji Kim
3.5
oOf... official rating: undecided :3
Edit: Official rating: 3.5
Listennnn.... I both enjoyed and felt frustrated with this book. I think it's because this is the first novelization of a manhwa I'm reading that I'm confused about the plot structure and pacing but I felt like the characters and authors took 3 steps forward then 2 steps back.
Side note: Aot of low reviews dnf this because of the non-con and dubious consent... SORRY TO SAY THIS BUT UNFORTUNAETLY KOREAN AUTHORS USE THIS ALOT. I've been reading idk how many manhwa's and this is a norm... they romanticize non-con and dub-con pretty often so I knew what to expect when opening this book and this is just me warning you if you don't like those topics then please skip over this book.
Let's start with Maxi. From the beginning we know she's been abused her entire life and then pretty much forced in an arranged marriage with a man who she's never met. He's a force to be reckoned with as he comes off as mean and potentially abusive as well. Maxi has a stutter and because of her abuse and seclusion she's super naive and has a low self-esteem. I assume the major plot of this book is having her learn about self-confidence and self-love and we see her start to come out of her shell as she lives as the Mrs. Calypse but I feel like the author doesn't really know how to push the story forward... Multiple times we see her shrink back after minor situations and sure she eventually gets over them but it's like we go back to square one when it comes to her views of herself. And in a way it makes sense as I can empathize with her after suffering abuse for so many years... it takes time to learn how to love yourself and to gain the confidence in living for yourself but I felt like with Maxi in this book... there was almost no progress... towards the end of the book it seems like there might be an inkling of her learning of her own self-worth but idk how many novels the publisher plans to do as Idk if I could take 2 more books of this....
Then we have Riftan. Man has the emotional intelligence of a fucking teenage boy istg... He doesn't know how to properly communicate and it make sense since he was at war for 3 years but after coming back and seeing your wifes strange behavior you don't think to question a few things???? Like bsffr... Maxi flinches every time someone gets angry and visibly uncomfortable around men.... like???? Ig he's that stupid.... And his character was pretty much the same... he was a bit of an asshole in the beginning be he treated Maxi as his proper wife which I respected. It was clear he was attracted to her so I was excited for their relationship to progress and when it finally did Riftan's anger and ignorance basically put a wall between the couple. He saw her as this fragile thing and wanted to keep her isolated that it felt misogynistic to a point... It's like he never wanted her to make her own mistakes, have a hobby, or make any friends. At first I thought it was maybe jealousy but it was just too much that the author made him obsessive.. and not the good kind.... I do like how he stands up for her and does his best to be kind to her as you can tell he's never really delt with women so I hope to see him and Maxi progress as a couple.
Their spicy scenes tho??? After the non0con that shit is good. It wasn't corny (which is a GODSEND) and it felt like the two were actually learning how to please each other and how to be more intimate as a couple... however.... they need to learn to chill cuz damn.... it happened way too much....
Maxi and Riftan have a lot of potential to be a great couple but they seriously need to spend more time together OUTSIDE OF THE SHEETS because I felt like they had pretty cute dynamic going on and can actually learn from one another.
Overall this story was very entertaining cozy romantasy and I hope in book 2 we can see both Maxi and Riftan growing instead of lagging behind because if not then I'm going to be bored of this story pretty fast... Also in terms of the romatasy thing it's got going on I think I would put this as one of my top romantasy recs... really the only other romantasy I can say I've really enjoyed is Elise Kova's A Dance with the Fae Prince book and Katee Robert's Neon Gods book.
I'll also edit this review once I read the manhwa edition to see how much the two compare.
Edit: Official rating: 3.5
Listennnn.... I both enjoyed and felt frustrated with this book. I think it's because this is the first novelization of a manhwa I'm reading that I'm confused about the plot structure and pacing but I felt like the characters and authors took 3 steps forward then 2 steps back.
Side note: Aot of low reviews dnf this because of the non-con and dubious consent... SORRY TO SAY THIS BUT UNFORTUNAETLY KOREAN AUTHORS USE THIS ALOT. I've been reading idk how many manhwa's and this is a norm... they romanticize non-con and dub-con pretty often so I knew what to expect when opening this book and this is just me warning you if you don't like those topics then please skip over this book.
Let's start with Maxi. From the beginning we know she's been abused her entire life and then pretty much forced in an arranged marriage with a man who she's never met. He's a force to be reckoned with as he comes off as mean and potentially abusive as well. Maxi has a stutter and because of her abuse and seclusion she's super naive and has a low self-esteem. I assume the major plot of this book is having her learn about self-confidence and self-love and we see her start to come out of her shell as she lives as the Mrs. Calypse but I feel like the author doesn't really know how to push the story forward... Multiple times we see her shrink back after minor situations and sure she eventually gets over them but it's like we go back to square one when it comes to her views of herself. And in a way it makes sense as I can empathize with her after suffering abuse for so many years... it takes time to learn how to love yourself and to gain the confidence in living for yourself but I felt like with Maxi in this book... there was almost no progress... towards the end of the book it seems like there might be an inkling of her learning of her own self-worth but idk how many novels the publisher plans to do as Idk if I could take 2 more books of this....
Then we have Riftan. Man has the emotional intelligence of a fucking teenage boy istg... He doesn't know how to properly communicate and it make sense since he was at war for 3 years but after coming back and seeing your wifes strange behavior you don't think to question a few things???? Like bsffr... Maxi flinches every time someone gets angry and visibly uncomfortable around men.... like???? Ig he's that stupid.... And his character was pretty much the same... he was a bit of an asshole in the beginning be he treated Maxi as his proper wife which I respected. It was clear he was attracted to her so I was excited for their relationship to progress and when it finally did Riftan's anger and ignorance basically put a wall between the couple. He saw her as this fragile thing and wanted to keep her isolated that it felt misogynistic to a point... It's like he never wanted her to make her own mistakes, have a hobby, or make any friends. At first I thought it was maybe jealousy but it was just too much that the author made him obsessive.. and not the good kind.... I do like how he stands up for her and does his best to be kind to her as you can tell he's never really delt with women so I hope to see him and Maxi progress as a couple.
Their spicy scenes tho??? After the non0con that shit is good. It wasn't corny (which is a GODSEND) and it felt like the two were actually learning how to please each other and how to be more intimate as a couple... however.... they need to learn to chill cuz damn.... it happened way too much....
Maxi and Riftan have a lot of potential to be a great couple but they seriously need to spend more time together OUTSIDE OF THE SHEETS because I felt like they had pretty cute dynamic going on and can actually learn from one another.
Overall this story was very entertaining cozy romantasy and I hope in book 2 we can see both Maxi and Riftan growing instead of lagging behind because if not then I'm going to be bored of this story pretty fast... Also in terms of the romatasy thing it's got going on I think I would put this as one of my top romantasy recs... really the only other romantasy I can say I've really enjoyed is Elise Kova's A Dance with the Fae Prince book and Katee Robert's Neon Gods book.
I'll also edit this review once I read the manhwa edition to see how much the two compare.