REVIEW Bemused by Farrah Rochon

Bemused by Farrah Rochon
Rating: 5 Stars 
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Format: Audiobook (Personal Library, Libro.fm)
Publisher: Random House/Disney

Bemused by Farrah Rochon, a spin off of the original animated Hercules movie from Disney, was entertaining and engaging. I absolutely loved the Muses in the movie, so I was super excited for them to get their own book. The author did a great job bringing their stories to life, and Joniece Abott-Pratt did a great job narrating their story in the audiobook performance (similar to how they narrated part of Hercules' story...)

The story takes place before the events of the Hercules movie, though there is a note in the last chapter that suggests things start to line up. Calliope, Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore, and Thalia are the daughters of Mnemosyne (a Titan and former resident of Olympus who has left that life behind her). When we initially meet them, they are not the Muses we originally know them as, rather a group of sisters living with their mother in a small, quiet fishing village. When they break one of their mother's only rules and perform together in front of a crowd, things begin to go awry and their mother is ultimately kidnapped. The girls band together to save her, and each of them discovers their special powers along the way.

Getting to watch the girls go from simple villagers to the "Muses" and goddesses of the arts was fun. While there are only five muses in this book, compared to the nine in the original mythology, the author did a great job in honoring all of the areas they are known for. I think Thalia was my favorite. It was also nice for them to be celebrated individually in the story as opposed to a collective (as to the best of my recollection, they are not individually recognized in the movie/individually named).

Overall, an amazing book that was very entertaining and fun. I recommend this book to fans of Disney movies and Greek mythology.