I'm a huge Maggie Stiefvater fan and I was so excited to see that she wrote a graphic novel! This story follows two twin brothers, who are opposite in every way, as they leave the city to visit their rural cousins.

Overall, the artwork is beautiful and the storyline is creepy and weird at the same time.

This volume has a gothic vibe mixed with science and a light summer romance. The twins from the cover are Walker and Alec. Their parents are going through significant marital problems, so they go to stay with family in a small, rural town. Walker is outgoing and finds friends wherever he goes. Alec is quiet and into botany. It is implied in a flashback that he has issues with socialization. He is also diabetic and tests his blood sugar with an arm monitor. The twins are close, but Walker complains about their recent lack of communication.
Alec has brought his treasured plant experiment, “Boris”, with him and later readers will learn about its creepy, life-changing properties. There are other characters which add humor or conflict to the storyline, but the most significant is a girl named Abby. She is also interested in nature, but her project has a supernatural element. The illustrations seem to feature primarily greens, blues, and reds, with the twins’ red hair standing out in the panels. The ending is not a surprise, but the artwork for the ultimate transformation is overpowering and eerie.

I read the published graphic novel for this review. Thanks to DC Comics and NetGalley for the e-galley. My ratings and reviews are my own.

This was creepy, weird and oh so darkly gorgeous art made it into a wonderful graphic novel that I read through in one single sitting!

Twins, Alec and Walker are extremely opposites to each other - though not as much as they both would like to believe?

At the heart of this dark graphic novel, is this relationship between these two wonderfully wounded boys - and though it’s a short read (the art is absolutely gorgeous! I am not even kidding!), the ending was a bit.. abrupt? I just needed a bit more closure to the story itself, unless there is a sequel in the works!

A girl can hope 😬

Swamp Thing was a really fun read, especially being both a fan of Maggie Stiefvater's writing and DC Comics! This was the first that I'd read from these series of graphic novels, though I know that there has been ones written about Raven and Beast Boy as well, which I can't wait to get my hands on!

As for Swamp Thing, I thought that the art style was really intriguing and different from any of the comics/graphic novels which I had read before. The color pallete was a really wonderful motif throughout the whole book as well. I read the story on an e-ARC, but when my physical copy came in the mail, I was really stunned by the design and artwork within.

I did have some gripe with the actual storyline of the graphic novel, as the beginning was a very slow start. It took me quite a bit to get hooked into the story, though I did read the whole thing within an hour or two, and it also felt like, once the story did escalate, it did so quite quickly, ending before I could truly process what went on within the last few pages. I definitely think I could have used more clarity on the ending, but that might just be a "me thing".

Either way, I think that the characters were all super enjoyable, though I wish that some of the side characters were slightly more developed so that the audience could get a better idea of their motivations for their actions within the story.

Despite this, I would definitely recommend this book to fans of comic books or graphic novels, or those looking to get into them. I think that it's a really approachable story that can be enjoyed by a wide audience.

Being a fan of Stiefvater and the DCs YA Graphic Novels, I knew I would enjoy this one. While Swamp Thing isn't one of my interests within the DC universe, I did like this novel. Of all the novels in the DC YA line, it wasn't my favorite, but it was a good read. The art was really beautiful though.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

A great look into the mind of an introvert and a reminder that not everyone that looks happy on the outside is actually happy

"Swamp Thing" Twin Branches" has distinct and beautiful illustrations. The plot of the graphic novel just can't seem to get going.

I have never read any comics about Swamp Thing and know so little of the character, but this is a fantastic story of two twins' difficulties they face. Outside of DC comics, people would enjoy the story and characters. The artwork is charming and suites the writing style of Stiefvater perfectly.

Alec is all about science and experimenting on plants while working on his thesis, while his twin brother Walker just wants him to relax and have a good time. When the brothers are sent away for the summer to stay with family out in rural swampland, Walker is stoked for the promise of parties but Alec would rather spend his days in the school lab. Things start to get weird when Alec's experiments are accidentally introduced to the swamp and Alec begins to exhibit strange powers. Everything's changing and one thing's certain, this will be a summer the boys will never forget.

Overall, this graphic novel failed to impress and left me feeling "meh." I did enjoy the diversity of the cast of characters and the rural setting (with swamps, of course!). The art style, while not my favorite, was consistent and had an indie tone that I liked. The story had a nice creepy/uncanny tone and setup. However, I never felt like I connected to the characters or the story and the ending felt very abrupt. Also, there is quite a lot of bullying, even from within the family, that was difficult to read.

I have always been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater but this wasn’t my favorite of her books. I think it was a fun read that I would still recommend to some readers who like this genre.

I'm not familiar with the content that inspired this comic, but Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors so I knew I had to check it out. Great for those who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the original source, I found the story engaging and the art style was great.

I can honestly say I know nothing about the origins of Swamp Thing so I can't tell you if this was following the pattern or something totally new- but I can confirm that this was 100% new to me plot and character-wise. But if you are a fan of this author, she definitely has her storytelling and magical realism going strong here.

At times the graphic novel jumped around a little more than I appreciated, making it hard to follow the plot of the story so I had to fill in a few blanks myself as to what happened. Also, huge freaking cliff hanger ending- and I think this is a standalone so be aware there is much more mystery as to what happens to "Swamp Thing" than expected.

Overall I found this to be a very original graphic novel with some great illustrations and I would love to get my hands on more of the teen DC world in this format.

Honestly when I saw that Maggie Stiefvater had written a graphic novel I didnt even care to look at the total or synopsis. I love her writing and this graphic novel was not different. First of the cover and artwork are absolutely beautiful but what's even better is that this book was exactly the sorr of creepiest and eerie thing I cant get enough of

I really like Maggie Stiefvater and I wasn't disappointed! Love the art too I wish there had been more of a plot though

While the art was gorgeous and just the right kind of weird, this really had no plot which was disappointing. If you’re a plot driven reader, this will not be the graphic novel for you.

As a fan of Maggie's works, this one 100% lives up to her fantastical weirdness and paranormal magic. Aided with Beem's perfectly playful illustrations, plant parent whimsy, and science, Swamp Thing brings in diversity to its characters with the inclusion of a diabetic hero with a glucose tracker. A trait that wasn't a token one off, but actually plays a vital role in the characterization and storytelling.

My only woe with the reading was a sense of lost focus up until the end. The beginning sets up the scene and conflict, but was quick to bring in a bunch of incremental details– such as the car racing and fights– that really rather took away from the main conflict and the new friend group Alec involves himself with.

However, where the struggle between the twins and the true becoming of Swamp Thing is concerned, I find that my enjoyment of it has no bounds. It is those two things at the end that really intrigues me to picking up future installments.

I’ll always be a Maggie fan, and this instance is no different. She writes beautifully (dare I say poetically?), and matching her words on a page with the lovely artistry by Morgan Beem? Ugh, put a fork in me, I’m done.

I don't have much prior experience with Swamp Thing so I can't speak to how this compares with other origin stories. This was more mad scientist than I was expecting. There wasn't a lot of exploration of what the powers meant, how they would affect relationships with other people. An interesting take but not really my tastes.

This is so gorgeous and weird and creepy all at once. I wanted to read this because of Maggie Stiefvater so I don't actually know anything about Swamp Thing in the DC universe. I went in completely new to it, basically. I didn't even realize it was a comic, previously. The overall story was great, the artwork was superb, and the characters were just as fantastic as Stiefvater's previous works. The ending, however, felt a bit abrupt.