Another of Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Project books, I was curious to see how this one would turn out. While I didn’t much care for The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook, I absolutely loved Tress of the Emerald Sea so I had mixed expectations going into this. The premise was interesting and considering the creativity in the first of the Secret Project books, I was curious to see what Yumi and the Nightmare Painter could offer. While the worldbuilding did feel rather lacking, the characters Yumi and Painter easily made up for it.
Character Development
10/10
The main characters, Yumi and Painter (aka Nikaro), came off a bit uninteresting at first, but they eventually became two incredibly endearing and relatable characters. Painter being the struggling artist that he is and Yumi burdened with such great yet debilitating responsibilities, they still prioritized the safety of their people and protection of their worlds over their own happiness and safety. But they both grow to be much better and stronger people because of their connection to one another. The story really took it’s time to develop who they are, their past traumas and failures, and really focus on how and if they can heal while trying to do their duty. It makes for a compelling character-driven story and I absolutely adored them.
The supporting cast was also quite wonderful. They easily could have been the stereotypes that a reader might expect in a story about two young people not quite being able to fit in (one through their own failings and the other through societal customs) but they turned out to be much more complex than that. The depth each supporting character had and the nuance of their relationships with the protagonists made for a stronger story with twists and turns that felt natural and relatable.
Plot
7/10
While the characters were quite amazing, the story itself felt rather slow at times. There’s barely any action to speak of, the story mostly being that of a mystery to be investigated and solved. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a story like this. The mystery of Yumi and Painter’s connection, while healing the trauma of each other’s lives through mutual care and support, is a story that can’t be rushed if it is to be explored properly. It’s a rather cathartic story in that sense, seeing two characters just talk to each other and work out their problems, frustrations and concerns and that being the bulk of the story. Normally one would expect a story like this to be more intense or more focused on the mysterious nature of their connection and what’s happening (and there is quite a bit of that) but it almost feels secondary to their individual and eventually shared stories.
However, there were some moments that felt a bit clunky in their delivery. Similar to how Tress of the Emerald Sea was told through a rather all-knowing narrator, it’s clearly established early on to be the same case in this story. While in that story it was relatively alright and didn’t disrupt the narrative, in Yumi and the Nightmare Painter there were some moments that the narrator felt more like a crutch than a plot device. One specific moment made it apparent as the narrator had to break the flow of the story to explain why the central plotline was happening and the worldbuilding around it rather than have the characters discover the truth.
Worldbuilding
7/10
There is enough established in both Yumi’s world as well as Painter’s world to understand the setting they’re in and what’s happening, but it stays at a rather surface level understanding. The reader’s given enough information either through explanation or context clues to understand how the characters are able to do what they do. The story doesn’t quite explore what seem like fascinating and interesting worlds that Yumi and Painter live on which feels like quite a shame considering the premise itself is quite fascinating! Painter’s world completely blanketed in shadows filled with monsters for as long as people could remember. It would have been amazing to delve more into the history of that world, how that oppressive darkness came to shape their lives. Yumi’s world was also quite fascinating and a bit more explored but not by too much unfortunately. It felt very much like a traditional fantasy setting but not in a bad way, just a bit simple. Though truth be told, for a story like this, that may not have been a bad choice except for that one moment the narrator had to step in and explain things.
Writing Style
10/10
Sanderson’s use of language to really illustrate the similarity as well as the differences between Yumi and Painter’s interactions was fun and endearing. The way they would banter with one another, the tone shifts in a gradual and natural way as they shared their fears, concerns, jabs and joy, it was all masterfully done. It especially helped that the way one viewed the other’s world was written so well in how alien it felt to them, how wrong it all seemed. The alternating perspectives, chapter length and paragraph breaks also made for an easy to read and enjoyable time, especially at the climax!
Score
8.5
Raph's Cozy Musings 