Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson is book number 3 of 4 in his Secret Projects series. After the dud that was The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, I’m happy to claim that this series is right back on track after having completed book three in the series. It’s great to see the author explore a more Asian theme with this one. I was quite surprised to see the manga like drawings throughout the story. Out of the three published books so far in the series, I believe these drawings best fit here due to the overall painting and art theme that goes with them. Never mind my love for all things manga and anime in general.

Was it the words or the heart that mattered in a prayer?

Yumi

What I loved best about the story is the obvious relationship that develops between Yumi and Painter. Two strangers needing to adapt to very different worlds with their stubborn personalities and quirks is like watching gasoline thrown into the fire. But slowly and surely, the characters adapt and conquer their fears and insecurities with the help of each other. For Painter, it was about redemption. I believe many have been in a similar situation. For Yumi, it was about her breaking out of her shell and just living her life as she wants with no expectations from others, especially an entire town. Being able to decide what would be best for yourself so that you can be happy is harder than it seems for Yumi. Again, I’m sure many can relate.

“Hello! Would you like to shake meat appendages?”

Design

If there’s anything to gripe about, it’s usually about the length of the novel. Maybe my age is creeping up there, where my patience is wearing thinner and thinner with each passing year. Because of how talented the author is, I’m sure it could have been trimmed down a bit while still giving the readers the full experience. To reiterate, though, these Secret Project novels are very special and dear to the author, and so I’m sure he’ll disagree with me. With one last book left to go, I can hardly wait to see what it will be about. So far, I still put Tress of the Emerald Sea just a bit ahead of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, but only by just a tad bit. Here’s to hoping book four will top them both!