“I really wish Mischa hadn’t relinquished her cherished role as the storyteller so easily. Because when Violet began telling stories, the trouble began,” the first chapter of the fictional novel “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” ends on this quote.
The book was written by novelist Zoe Aarsen and follows the life of McKenna Brady, a high schooler whose life gets turned upside down after coming across Violet Simmons.
Aarsen wrote the book, and the two sequels, for the website Wattpad, which allows anyone to write and upload their own stories and books. Aarsen’s supernatural thriller story was picked up by a Hulu original television series, “Light as a Feather.” Although the television show has significant differences from the book, it still does a great job capturing the supernatural feel that Aarsen originally wanted.
As mentioned, the book and television series follow McKenna Brady, the average high school girl, who found herself amongst the stereotypical popular girl clique. Her friends include Olivia, the beautiful leader of the group and Candace, the preppy one. One of the changes from the book and the television series is the change of the last member of the clique. Mischa, the athletic one was changed to Alex in the television series.
There were a lot of significant changes to the book when the television show was created. One of the characters is given a serious problem and becomes a small backstory but this was never mentioned in the book. At the end of the first season, there is a surprise twist that is completely different from the book and makes it stray away from how Aarsen ended the first book and led into her second. Even with these changes, the supernatural thriller theme does not waver.
Throughout the book, the events that happen follow the basic rules that come along with a supernatural thriller novel. This includes inhuman beings and paranormal entities. As for the television show, it doesn’t shy away from this theme either. Some of the changes made added more to the theme with the use of unexplained events, gory deaths and gruesome scenes.
Overall, reading the book series before watching the television show was a great idea. Even though what the viewers watched was different from what they read, the show remained as interesting as the book, if not more. The differences that were made throughout the show kept the viewers on the edge of their seats and surprised with every twist that happened.
The “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” series is on the Wattpad website or app. You can find all three books of the series under Zoe Aarsen’s profile. The first season of “Light as a Feather” is being streamed on Hulu. The second season has not been announced.
