Of all the Year of Sanderson cosmere novels — and I enjoyed every single one of them: Tress, Sunlit, Frugal Wizard — Yumi and the Nightmare Painter sticks out as the best of the set. I think, probably, that Frugal seemed to stretch him the most narrative, Tress in terms of voice, Sunlit was just straight fun for the fans.

But the reason Nightmare Painter sticks out the most from the set for me is because of the characters. I couldn’t really pick it out in the midst of what seems to be a very wild novel, particularly in terms of setting. The world felt like something Guillermo Del Toro and Miyazaki would make together. Just a wild set of polarities, almost Yin Yang writ large upon the world, light in the dark, dark in the light. Wonderful metaphor for the societies we find ourselves inside, conservative and liberal alike, cultish and decadent alike.

But that, though cool, wasn’t what did it.

It was the realization that these characters paralleled the romance of my bride and I. I don’t want to get too deep into it, both for her sake and others, but suffice to say that though I like the Nightmare Painter grew up in public school with so, so much media available to me, I had neurodivergent tendencies, awkwardness, and a personality that opened itself to bullying often — both by actual bullies and just by fellow nerds who didn’t (and don’t) see me as cool as they are. Unlike others, this didn’t engender a desire in me to be cool so much as to accept that I just never really quite fit in. It made me long, desperately, for someone to simply be close to me — who understood and accepted and was also awkward, yet for whom my cultural references seemed new and fresh, rather than lame and “so last year,” or what have you.

A sincere nerd.

My bride, on the other hand, grew up exceedingly sheltered like Yumi. She was sort of the star, straight-A girl in her community (even at our alma mater), was awkward from being homeschooled and yet, among the homeschoolers, seemed the most well-adjusted, sociable, kind, and ready to explore and share her own ideas, rather than those imposed upon her.

She was a ready listener to all of the cultural and nerdy things I adored. And she actually liked a lot of the same things. I, on the other hand, was awkward enough among the public schoolers that it seemed rather normal to a well-adjusted homeschooler.

Their relationship really, truly, helped me find words to express just how much her friendship and companionship has meant to me over the years. It’s irreplaceable. It’s the reason I say — God forbid — if something ever happens to her, I will probably remain single for the rest of my life or join a monastery or something. There’s no one else. There’s her and no one else.

That plus the EXTREMELY unusual settings of the romance arc combined with the adventure really and truly made this one for me. I normally don’t reach for romance, though I’ve read several. But other than The Notebook or some classics, I think this may be the one that resonated with me the most over all of my reading in life. Highly recommend it, especially if you’re only going to read one of the year of Sanderson. This or the Sunlit man, depending on if you want a romance or a thriller.

Cried 3-4 times, laughed a bunch, felt many a thrill that powered me through. Again, I’m in awe of the versatility of this man, speaking of genre. This is great for folks that love manga and anime, Korean and Japanese culture alike.