Reviews

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

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lbc573's review

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4.0

A good story but a little slow up until the last 40 pages

lnareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

woodward_would's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh, my god??? This book was so good???
I've never read Brandon Sanderson before so picked this up on a whim, and now I'm gonna have to find the rest of this secret project series. The story itself was so lovely with a skilled writing style to match. I was listening to the audiobook and originally had it on in the background but realised I couldn't keep up with what was happening. When I finally restarted with it as the main focus I couldn't have been happier that I did.
About to go buy the physical book thats how much I loved it.

unclepapa's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

spiffxp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

random_spider's review

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This has been regarded by readers as one of the best books of the Brandon Sanderson (might even be the best stand-alone of the Cosmere universe). But as my first book of this critically acclaimed author — I was looking for something that transcends my expectations. It didn't. But I've heard this wasn't his usual entry, in which case I admire the risk and exploration the author took.

------Stat Score------

Plot/Content: 9/10
Characters/POVs: 10/10
Prose/Style: 8/10
Themes/Messages: 7/10
Enjoyability/Impact: 9/10

OVERALL RATING: 8/10 (Great)

"We're going," she said anyway. She walk around him to the hallway, then held out her hand. "Come on. Tonight we're not a painter or a yoki-hijo. Tonight we're just people. ..."

Synopsis and/or Premise:
Painter lived in a world of night. His magenta-and-teal lighted city is shrouded by an everlasting veil of black mist, blocking the sky but a singular star and spawning nightmares that feasts on people. He uses the art of painting to capture these inky abominations.

Yumi is a yoki-hijo, a sacred individual whose purpose is to call the spirits using stone-stacking art. Her people need her lifetime service to survive a baking land of eternal sun, filled with floating flora and erupting geysers.

But one day, with the plead of a lone spirit, their lives will intertwine and they'll be forced to figure out why before their worlds perish.

The Good and The Bad:
The two protagonists, Nikaro (Painter) and Yumi, were one of the strongest aspects of this book. Painter was well established to be this brooding, self-pitying character who lost his artistic spark, yet is still eager to do the right thing for the sake of purpose and validation. His character was an allegory to many underappreciated professional workers. Yumi, on the other hand, had no choice at birth to be revered by her people. She lived a life in chains (the concept of 'Bukot' in my culture.) They're both compelling, believable, and actually had a fun dynamic between one another. A balance of playful shenanigans and poignant moments. Seriously though, their relationship was written so naturally I could easily imagine them doing the exact actions because it fits their character. They're also both had respectable character growth. Despite having drastically different lives, they still find themselves relating to each other's parallel circumstances. The book, at its core, was just them understanding deeply who the other person is. I just love them together, man. SO ENDEARING 🥰.

Judging as a fantasy? Yeah, this was top tier. From the already expected incredible world-building of the author, the subtle complexity of dialogues, weighted themes, and interesting use of tropes. I was wholly enamored by its world. The settings were written in picturesque descriptions 🖼️ worthy of high-end cinematic adaptations. Some scenes were so marvelous I would pay any amount just to play it in a video game version, like a final boss or cut scene or something. Perhaps finding myself consistently chuckling was the best experience because the writing had excellent comedic knack. And I'm simply thankful it focused on small cast of characters, making the narrative more personal and less convoluted that it could potentially have. I've heard this was Brandon Sanderson branching out into more of a romantic novel, and honestly, it turned out well. No wonder the author is considered a pinnacle contributor to the modern fantasy genre and storytelling. He indeed knows what he's doing.

While reading, I was repeatedly convincing myself that it's the best of what the genre could offer. I was blurting like "This is a 5⭐, It'll be a 5⭐, right?...just like the majority would rate it?" — but, hate to say it, no. It might be if we consider what the author had built up, but since this was my first book I had to judge it on its own. It's not bad by any means, but it's not perfect either. Now, this list wouldn't include the infamous grammatical error in chp. 5 (that would be petty of me), but here are my major problems:

1. Narrator 🗣️ - The narrator, Hoid, was a fun character. I loved rolling my eyes whenever he talks about himself. My only problem with him was that sometimes he talks directly to the readers. I know he was probably just telling a story to a character in the Cosmere universe, but still his direct third person interactions sucked out the entrancing high fantasy.

2. Pacing ⏩ - Started a tad slower in the first half, then during the final act were now zooming/rushed? Why the inconsistency? The pace could have been equal all throughout, and I am not a stranger to narratives with accelerating pace, but here it just felt jarring instead of smooth. There were also moments in the middle where the narrative didn't progress. It simply stalled a bit as my eyes just follow the characters going through their typical day.

3. Vocabulary flexing 💪 - Brandon Sanderson...what the heck are you doing? Some of the words used here were strikingly for the purpose of "Hey, loyal readers. Check this out. A random difficult word I KNOW." Bro, stop. You could have used easier words with identical meanings. On hindsight, this might not even be his fault. It might be the editors. Nonetheless, I could have saved a few visits from the dictionary and enjoyed the fantasy immersion more.

Final Thoughts:
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson is the third secret project of him. A NA (are 19-year-olds considered New Adult, or still YA? not sure) Romantasy that is heavily inspired by multiple Japanese media like Final Fantasy X, Hikaru no Go, and the film Kimi no Nawa (Your Name by Makoto Shinkai). No wonder it had this 'anime' feel to it. I immediately recognized the semblance of plot devices between it and said film, but thankfully they differ enough to be their own unique story. There are also some Korean elements (Yumi is the Korean equivalent) since THERE'S K-DRAMAS WITHIN — or its Cosmere universe version 🤣. This book would likely impacted me more if I have read the other entries within the Cosmere universe first. Like it was BEGGING for readers to recognize many of its Easter Eggs and references from the other connected series.

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