Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: A Cosmere Novel (Secret Project #3)
By: THE Brandon Sanderson
My Rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS
Best for: 14 and up

He can write love stories, too?!

2023 will likely go down as my favorite year of reading ever, largely thanks to the Year of Sanderson.

What’s the Year of Sanderson, you ask?

During the down time of 2020, Brandon wrote 5 secret novels. He didn’t tell anyone–his team, his publisher, his fans. He wrote the novels for his wife and kids, and only revealed the existence of these novels in a now famous YouTube vid in March 2022. (–>See the original reveal here.<–) In the video–in the goofy, tongue-in-cheek way of Brandon–he “apologized” for being dishonest with his fans by hiding the novels and announced we could all get them via non-traditional publishing by backing a Kickstarter campaign. His Kickstarter goal was to raise $1 Million in 30 days to get the books published. The result? Brandon’s campaign made $1 Million in less than 24 hours, then went on to destroy all records with the largest Kickstarter campaign in history: over $42 Million in 30 days.

That was March 1st, 2022. In 2023, the first month of each quarter I’ve received a new book, and every other month I’ve received a curated box of fun goodies from Sanderson’s worlds. In January I read Tress of the Emerald Sea. In April I read The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. And now Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was delivered to my Kindle on July 1st. One more mystery book will hit in October!

It’s like Christmas every month!

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was–gah!!! Brilliant. It was classic Sanderson in its mystery, adventure, wit, and world building. It was unique Sanderson too–it was sweet and warm and featured a perfectly charming love story. I laughed at some parts, I cried at others, and some parts gripped me tight and forced me to keep turning pages.

Yumi was inspired by Japanese and Korean cultures, and features stunning art work from Aliya Chen. The art alone is worth the price of admission, and honestly it’d have to be to be worthy of this beautiful story.

Cosmere fans will rejoice at the easter eggs that abound. Not familiar with The Cosmere? While I’ll stop short of saying you won’t enjoy Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, I will say you probably won’t enjoy it as much as other Sandernerds. I reco’d Tress of the Emerald Sea to a Cosmere nube, and they felt they were missing a really significant piece of an inside joke while trying to understand the nuances–I originally that book was one anyone could enjoy. So, I’m going to encourage non-Cosmere fans to get yourself caught up at bit so you can enjoy Tress and Yumi as they are meant to be enjoyed. This article over at www.OneManBookClub.com would be a good place to start.

There are no content concerns in Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I’ll say it’s best for 14 and up, simply due to the complexity of the story, but if your 12 year old is up to speed on Cosmere lore, let them jump in without hesitation.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was an absolute reading joy.

Happy Reading!