A review by ashlightgrayson
Under the Oak Tree: Season 1, Vol. 5 by Suji Kim

dark emotional hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This installment is riddled with a lot more external political conflict. There is a war against monsters, and Riftan and Maxi must navigate their respective roles relative to the conflict. Riftan continues pressing Maxi to avoid participating in the conflict. She has become bolder in her decision making and despite Riftan's wishes, indirectly enters the conflict. This ends up having some major consquences that are fitting, but also have major implications. She has a much more active role than she ever has before up until this point. I appreciated that her actions were a reflection of the vast amount of character growth that she has undergone, much of it thanks to her relationship with Riftan and her new life in Anatol. 

I appreciated seeing Maxi become more comfortable sexually with Riftan. She is more open to communicate her needs to him and vice versa within that context. However, they still have issues communicating in other areas.
SpoilerI felt like the miscarriage was a realistic plot point. Maxi and Riftan have been sexually active for a while, and she's in better health than she ever was at Calypse Castle. It makes sense that she would become pregnant under those circumstances. Additionally, it was emotionally impactful because the reason that it occurred was in a very high stakes situation. I think it was wrong for Riftan not to let Maxi know about the miscarriage. At the same time, it makes sense for his character. I like that the healing process that occurs for a couple after the miscarriage was explored thoroughly. It is clear that Riftan loves Maxi very much and worries for her well-being more than anything else, sometimes at the expense of both of them.
Whenever they have a source of conflict, Riftan has a bad habit of distancing himself leaving Maxi guessing what is going through his head. This is ultimately what pushes Maxi to make a lot of the unwise decisions as the story progresses. Maxi, on the other hand, has been hiding largely important portions of her past. The consequences of that eventually catch up to her and it all comes to a head. I'm happy about the result of all of this and the journey there was interesting.

Furthermore, I was incredibly satisfied with at the scenes we got with Rosetta. Up until this point we have known very little about Maxi's relationship with her. By the time we get an honest and genuine conversation between Maxi and Rosetta, it is clear that Rosetta is another victim to Lord Croyso's cruelty, just in a different way.
SpoilerRosetta was the child drowned in the expectations of perfection with fear that she would be subject to the same abuse as Maxi if she wasn't.
The ending to that entire interaction was probably the best it could have been. I actually would be happy to read a spin-off just about Rosetta.

The best part of the story for me was definitely the ending. I know Riftan and Maxi are having trouble agreeing on how to handle things, but I think this next step will help their relationship overall. Maxi is getting the chance to become more independent an learn more about magic. Riftan will maybe learn to be less stubborn and roll with the punches a bit more when it comes to Maxi. I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this resolves in upcoming books and see Maxi realize her full potential.
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