Book Review
What Is It About?
“Yumi and the Nightmare Painter” by Brandon Sanderson is the story of a young man named Painter and a young woman named Yumi, who seem to come from completely opposite worlds. When they are unexpectedly thrown together and given a vague and seemingly impossible task, it’s up to them to learn what it takes to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, dig deep into what makes art matter (and what art truly is to begin with), potentially fall in love, and possibly save the world.
The Setting
The setting of “Yumi and the Nightmare Painter” is in a world (or worlds) very much in the Brandon Sanderson cosmere. I don’t want to give too much away, so all I’ll say about the setting is that, once again, Sanderson has done an amazing job of building a world that makes sense to the reader quickly, while also painting a picture (ha!) of what it all looks and feels like with such description that it feels as though you’re there. While this is in the cosmere, I don’t believe you HAVE to have read Sanderson before to enjoy this book. However, there are several references that won’t make sense if this is your first Sanderson experience. And the narrator is a returning character who you may find confusing (more than those who have previously read about him already do) without previous experience. Overall, I’d say you’re safe to read it as a newbie Sanderson fan, as long as you’re willing to be lost on minor details and Easter eggs.
My Review
I absolutely loved this book! Sanderson respectfully borrowed from cultures both in Korea and Japan, while also creating a completely unique world that is utterly fascinating. The fantasy world jobs he has created for these two main characters are interesting while also making perfect sense for the setting. If you’re used to Sanderson’s writing, you know that he has a sort of “slow burn” method with his books, where the world is built delicately, characters developed thoroughly, and the action takes a while to occur. While I will say that this is somewhat true of this book, it is much less of a slow burn than his usual work. This may be in part that it’s not one of his 1,000 page stories! “Yumi and the Nightmare Painter” is 479 pages (if you read his postscript, which you should) of delightful magic and romance.
Yes, I said romance! While Sanderson is no stranger to writing romantic relationships, this is clearly his largest romantic undertaking as far an entire story is concerned. The only other contender would be “Tress of the Emerald Sea.” There is action, there are stakes, but at the end of the day, this is a love story, and I’m here for it!
Yumi and Painter are also very relatable characters. The affects of depression after having dreams crushed is written with such accuracy, and the other sort of depression that comes from mundanity and discontentment is written just as accurately. When we finally find out just how high the stakes are, the reaction of our heroes is not immediately, “let’s do this”,” but, “I am so NOT the right person for this!” I love that.
While the story is very much a romance, there is plenty of action, and even an undercurrent throughout parts of the story that seem to be a nod toward our current debates about AI and art. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, although it seems so clear to me that I would be surprised if it wasn’t.
I also love that our narrator gives good advice to us readers, and makes comments and social commentary very relevant to our own world! While there is relevance in all of Sanderson’s work, I have found his more recent releases of these “secret projects” has included a lot more of this, and personally, I’m a fan. This narrator is wise and states things so poetically!
Let’s talk about the illustrations in this book for a moment, because they are STUNNING!!!
The illustrator for this book is Aliya Chen, and she is a master of her craft! The images throughout the book bring such life to the story, and depict special scenes in the most amazing way. While Sanderson paints a picture with his words that is vivid enough to see it all, Chen literally paints the pictures and adds even more wonder to this wonderful story!
I’m rating this book 5 stars, because Brandon Sanderson did it again! It gets 2.5 tears because it DID make me tear up, but wasn’t a full-on tear-jerker or anything. It doesn’t really have any spice… maybe half a pepper, but I wanted you to be able to see it! There is some romance, but no real spice.
I’m giving this book a full 5 page-turners! Even with the semi-slow burn, I was hooked from the start, and the ending was spectacularly satisfying! Highly recommend!
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Dannika Lauren 
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