A reverse harem gothic romance that's light on plot but heavy on pretty vampire boys and vibes. Reminiscent of popular vampire romance otome games, let's hope the heroine gets a good ending.

This thrilling tale is one that lots of teen readers would love. The premise of the story is good, but maybe not great. It will still scratch any need for gothic writing or vampires and the art style is phenomenal! I definitely appreciated the art very much. So it's a great teen and vampire enthusiast pick.

I thought the premise had promise, the art is mostly great, and the youngest brothers' statues are interesting and creepy, the brother that is addicted to blood is also interesting, especially the part where he attacks the Female lead, but this manga just isn't my cup of tea for a few reasons. First of all, Everything is just a tad over the top for me.

A second thing that bothers me is the female lead does not question the man right in front of her and asks more about her situation before asking to work there. I would thank him and leave, it doesn't matter, but please do not ask to stay there.

Lastly, what is frustrating to me about this manga is that it reminds me too much of the premise in diabolic lovers. The female lead was surrounded by vampires who were treating humans horribly before suddenly falling for her and slowly changing their ways after they abused her.

This manga does not make sense to me and does not excite me, but I do love the art.

Rosen Blood is a thrilling mystery with vampires! I liked how the story progressed and how you learn about how vampires survive in this world. I love the art style and the introduction to each character in this first volume! Definitely a great book for vampire fans and for High School collections.

Vampire romances are a fan favorite in any medium, and in manga, it’s had a great uptick. With FANGS, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, and Call of the Night, vampire manga has been one of my favorite moments of my monthly reading, and now I can add Rosen Blood to the list. Rosen Blood Volume 1 is written and illustrated by mangaka Kachiru Ishizue, published and localized in English by VIZ Media’s shojo/josei imprint Shojo Beat. The English translation is provided by JN Productions, and the English adaptation is done by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane. Additionally, the volume features touch-up art and lettering by Joanna Estep, design by Alice Lewis, and is edited by Jennifer Sherman.

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men that really want to drink her blood. Instead of tossing the helpless Stella out, the manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes there is more to the arrangement than she was originally told.

Now, I’m not usually a fan of haram manga in any form, but there is something about adding vampires to the mix that I can’t help but become engrossed –I blame that 2000s Queen of the Damned film if I’m honest. That said, the trope of the vampire boyfriend haram only gets Rosen Blood so far. Instead, it’s the elements of gothic horror, gorgeous art, and just a hint of camp that make the volume worth picking up.

Levi is the leader of the vampires, in control of his bloodlust and the house. Friedrich is a flirty florist existing to push a sexual boundary. Yoel is androgynous, childlike, and coy. And finally, Gilbert is the dangerous one, driven by his thirst but an artist all the same. These young vampires are all unique and beyond that, the ominous life-like sculptures cast a dangerous shadow on Stella’s life in the home.

For her part, Stella avoids the common naive damsel trope for the most part, mainly in her relationship with Levi. She refuses to treat him with respect when he treats her like an object and that small assertion of agency puts the worlds above other female protagonists in these vampire reverse harem stories. Additionally, what begins as a reverse harem morph into a singular romance that settles into itself as a mystery begins to surface connecting Levi and Stella beyond the present.

Rosen Blood Volume 1 serves as a solid foundation for a vampire romance and mystery that embraces gothic elements, traditional tropes, and ultimately a sleeping beauty concept that Ishizue executes well. All of this makes Rosen Blood a series to pick up for vampire fans.

If you looked at the cover and the description of Rosen Blood, you'd expect it to be a girl meets vampire story -- and you wouldn't be wrong, but there's a few twists in here that keep readers guessing (at first) what's really going on in this mansion surrounded by thorny brambles.

The art is nice, and as expected, there are several steamy encounters between the female lead and the four hunky guys who are her "employers" as she takes on the housekeeping duties in this mysterious mansion. It has a lot of elements that remind me of gothic romance novels, so if you love that kind of supernatural love stories, this is probably your jam.

I thought it was fine, but somehow it didn't have that something extra that would get me hooked to keep reading beyond the two volumes I previewed? I'm not sure what was lacking in this manga for me... it felt like the characters were maybe a little under-developed, and the romance between the two main characters, Stella and Levi lacked that extra sizzle that would make readers root for them even as fate (and their human / not-human differences) seem to imply that their love is doomed. the other three male characters in the mansion also felt a little underdeveloped, and there wasn't enough suspense leading up to the revelation of how and why the occupants of the mansion are they way that they are.

All in all, not a mediocre supernatural/gothic romance manga -- but maybe not a great one, or at least not from what I could see in volumes 1 and 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viz Media for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The standout of this series is the artwork. It is exquisitely drawn and every detail accounted for. As for the plot, while not original does satisfy. Great pick for any teen reader.

I tried really hard to like this book, however, I wasn't able to. To me, the male characters bled together in a way that was hard to keep track to who is who. Tha main character was moved around in a way that confused me, this definitely gave me vampire vobes, but they aren't really into blood.
I understand that this book wasn't for me, but definitely check it out if you like paranormal stories.

Pretty standard shoujo fare. The artwork is lovely and it definitely scratches that popular paranormal romance itch. Rosen Blood will be popular with tweens and teens. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to make it stand out from any other vampire manga series. Satisfying if not remarkable.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was an interesting start to a manga series. The main character gets saved from a carriage accident, but all of that happens before the book starts. The main character, Stella, then asks to work for the men who saved her. Through her misadventures with them, she learns they may not be human.

I liked the concept of this manga and the art is well done. I think the only thing that I kept asking myself in this first volume was, what exactly is happening? There are moments where, as the reader, I was just confused about. Like, why does she just accept that she can't go anywhere? The story doesn't really go into other than making the reader assume she has no where else to go. Also, the way the characters are introduced are a bit choppy at times.

However, after saying all that, it's a decent start to a first read. If you enjoy vampire romance type manga like Vampire Knight, this is definitely a read for you.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I picked up Rosen Blood. As I began reading, I felt like I was reading a mishmash of concepts that already existed rather than something original - the plot from that vampire otome mobile game, Vampire Knight, Diabolik Lovers, to name a few...

What really shines with Rosen Blood is the artwork. The characters are drawn beautifully, and the fangs, when they're shown, are just *clenches fist* so good. Our heroine, however... I don't know. Amnesia as a plot device has never been my favorite, because like it is in this first volume, it's often relied on to handwave any sort of personality the one afflicted with it may have had. She reminds Levi-Ruin of someone else, an old lover perhaps?, and is blind to the danger she's in while living in the remote, isolated manor where three out of the four inhabitants have done their best to scare her and heavily imply how dangerous they are....to no avail. I had hoped the heroine would have a stronger personality than this, but there seem to be many harem and harem-adjacent series where that's just not the case.

I'm hoping that a personality will begin to shine as the series goes on, but right now, if I had to pick only one vampire romance to recommend to someone, it wouldn't be this one ... it would probably be Vampire Knight or Millenium Snow.

The illustrations in this manga were gorgeous. The plot, though, was a little all over the place. I'm kind of interested to continue, but I really wanted to love this one more than I did.

Though I feel like the plot could get messy at points I enjoyed reading Rosen Blood. The characters were enjoyable and the build up was nice. It was slightly cliche but almost any vampire romance is and the cliche worked well with the story and didn’t feel tedious.

This gives me 'Diabolik Lovers' vibes, but without the visual novel elements. Girl gets stranded at isolated mansion with a number of guys who happen to be vampires, she doesn't know this yet (of course), and this gets her into "trouble". That's where the similarity ends, but the appeal is towards fans of DL and series like 'Vampire Knight'. Beautiful artwork, an interesting premise...how's this gonna go?

Honestly, I'm not sure how this is going to play out for the rest of the series...the ending was decisively ambiguous in that it came from out of nowhere (to me) and Stella's predicament hasn't been fully explained yet. I feel the need to read the next one because it was almost a cliffhanger, so we'll see what transpires.

Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

a star for the attractive characters
a star for gothic vampire vibes
two stars for a quick and easy read
A young girl gets rescued by a vampire and goes to work and live in his mansion.
Nothing really new or shocking in this tale, however the vampires are very attractive and I'm interested to see where the story goes next.

This was incredibly predictable. The story was just like almost every other vampire book about a young girl getting taken by a bunch of vampires and held in their mansion. If you've read one, skip this - you won't get anything new out of it.

I have no clue what is going on in this story. Something just feels entirely too disconnected and a bit overly and a bit too melodramatic. That being said, the artwork is fantastic and this is sure to have some big fans. It is just not for me.

For Libraries: content-boob silhouettes, assault, death/murder; YA suitable, but might have more readers in adult.

Vampires, manga = a win. Rosen Blood Vol 1 is a great introduction to a world that has really sparked my interest from the opening page. Art work is stellar and the characters are a fun read.

A gorgeous gothic tale of one brave maid trying to understand the strange supernatural family she has become indebted too. Nothing particularly ground breaking in this concept or series but I found myself invested in the mysterious house and it’s gorgeous inhabitants. All of the men are tantalisingly attractive and the costumes are breath taking! The whole visual style of this series is outstanding and I would enjoy reading more to discover the stories surrounding each family member! The take on vampirism is intriguing and their unique Crystal food source made from blood is something I haven’t read before so wonder like to see how that will develop in later books.

Stella is rescued from an accident and ends up working for the men who saved her.

I really didn't think to look more into this book or even find out what it was about. I assumed vampires and that was it my interest was peaked. This book was a pleasant surprised and naturally I would find an interesting book that would make me want to get ahold of the next book because now I want more. I loved the whole mystery of the guys cause clearly they were vamps but the whole crystal thing? I just want to know more. Plus that Gilbert guy, he's a loose cannon who is gonna make things all the more interesting. Can't wait to get ahold of what happens next.