Book Review: Dynasty of Ghosts

Summer Writing Challenge

3. Review a movie/book/anything

Dynasty of Ghosts

First of all, this is a yaoi (m/m) novel so if you cannot take the prospect of ever reading something like that then hey, you have no business reading this review. But hey wait! It doesn't really kill to try something like this for the mere purpose of broadening your horizon just a tad bit, isn't it? But if you're okay with this thing then carry on and read my humble review of this wonderful book.

The summary of the book can be found in goodreads so I don't really need to repeat it here, I'm just itching to rant about this book. Here, check out the plot first: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7132358-dynasty-of-ghosts

Now, done reading? Okay here goes. I really love this book but it is a very long read. It has more than 270,000 words and that was like a quarter of the Harry Potter series which is fine with me being a heavy reader. Unfortunately I only read it in e-book format but just like most of what the reviewers stated, if you ever pay more than $7 for this book, you'd find it worth it in the end and even willing to spend more for it. It's just that awesome.

There are a lot of negative things in this book. I thought I would put it first for you so that we can eradicate negative thoughts about this book first and we shall relish all the goodness of it later on. There are lots, lots, LOTS of grammatical errors in it. I don't know what happened to its editor or if it was even edited, I doubt. You can see errors on simple subject-verb agreements, verb tenses, mistakes such as using "breath" for "breathe". Confusion on using -ing or -ed ending verbs and such. Misspelled words were everywhere, even the spacing err. Over all the mistakes were noticeable much to the point that if I would be given a chance to edit this book, I'd do it for free just to see some of the mistakes corrected (not that I'm perfect or anything, just reduce it a tad bit.) But if you're not a grammar nazi who'd kill for wrong grammar then, please, don't turn your back on this book. You'd regret it, like, yeah, for real.

Also, illya is a girl. No he's a guy, this being a yaoi but damn that beau acts like a girl most of the time. That painful  need of a guy is there, rarely, but there nonetheless which is good. He's not overly dramatic sopping  on the corners for such a tough love. (The main reason I don't like hetero romances that much.) No, hardly. he contemplates, yes. he's scared, he's reluctant and hesitant which is fine if you're a ranger and your lover is the prince heir, but he is overly attached to his religion condemning this and that is bad. He couldn't accept that this is love we have over here and you cannot do anything when it comes to that. Although I don't blame him for that I blame his family for that, poor Illya and his childhood. He's lonely and naive, pretty dense as well and he blush furiously most of the time! His reactions to sex were girly as well and if not for some statements regarding his thing between his legs I would think that Ashe is having sex with a girl! Well I think it's just the way it is. I doubt if the book would be as good as it is if Illya's different.

I also hate the fact that sometimes Nunn wrote like a seasonal writer meaning there's a part in the book wherein she continuously used 'one must..' 'one does not..' like a broken record and it's just disturbing and all.

On the good parts, I love the idea of the ghosts here in the story. It's not the usual pity or scary difference. It's much more than that. There's frustrations, so much more madness and viciousness  hatred, anger and pure evil. The plot twist  regarding the ghosts are realistic and appealing at best sometimes you'd even get goosebumps but not the usual ghost goosebumps we get from ordinary ghosts stories, it's the goosebumps you get from thrill and expectations and speculations presented in the story. Also, Ashe is lovely. At the first part of the book, you'd be fascinated with Illya and his gentle, lonely personality, his ability to see ghost, his beautiful long hair and such, and on the other hand you'd find Ashe as the arrogant  cunning, needy (yet very charming) handsome prince who forced himself on Illya. But as the story progresses, you'd come to a point where you would stop with a sudden realization that you already love Ashe. Ashe is as princely as any prince heir is expected to be. Handsome, strong and courageous but inside that, you'll see a man tired and bitter by his father's attitude to a second son who never really caught his affection. You'll see a man tired of the intrigues and poisonous mouths and eyes hovering him for the intention of getting attached to the second most powerful person in the kingdom with so much as a pretense of a good friend or a concerned and loyal lover. Ashe is lonely as much as Illya was for the loss of a mother and a brother whom he could consider as the few who really loved him. He's eaten by the guilt that he was not able to do anything to save the people he loved so much. He is a man deprived of true love..a child deprived of paternal love and a childhood that he very much deserved  Ashe is a gentle soul entrapped in a tough vessel tossed out in a deadly place. Ashe is a man afraid to love someone for the fear of losing them and him being left alone once again. Ashe longed for a father that could love him despite of all the circumstances. Ashe longs for love and he found a kindred soul in Illya in that direst situation of his life.

Nunn did great with the flow of the story. Despite it's length,you'd hardly find a boring spot in this book. The world of this book was wonderfully crafted without much trying too hard. Just like with Ashe, you'd find yourself in the world without even thinking about it. It was a flow like no other that at one point you're in your chair reading it, the next you're there overseeing Ashe and Illya's affairs with a vivid vision of everything not in the way that every single thing was being described to you with such lengthy words, but a brief and enchanting description that leaves a room for your imagination to expand it beautifully.

Most of the readers were disappointed in the ending of the book and long for a sequel, I do want a sequel too but I'm not disappointed in the ending as much as they do (quite grouchy with some loopholes, though) for I understood that the scene in the ending is the most beautiful way to end that mundane and painful situation they're in. Turn around forget everything and escape reality but know that you would have to go back to it sooner or later. That's why this love is so beautiful and painful. 

Hikanoo: Brighter than the sun

Summer Writing Challenge

HikaNoo: Brighter than the sun

Stop me on the corner
I swear you hit me like a vision
I, I, I wasn't expecting
But who am I to tell faith where it's supposed to go with it?


Passing by strangers, both young and old, some giving him peaceful and sweet smiles, some simply nodding at him, some ignoring him at all. Among those people Hikaru came across to, he loved those who are too busy, immersed in the presence of their loved ones to notice him at all. He would admit it, he quite like the attention on him his friends used to say came from his undeniably attention-grabbing aura and smile, but he loved seeing people in love more that he loved that attention. He saw a young couple pushing their young son in the swing as he turned around the corner that led to the park. He smiled as he passed by them and he saw the young child grin at him and gave him a peace sign. He laughed out loud. If people in this place are this friendly, he wouldn't mind making this his permanent jogging route, besides the Sakura trees that lined this particular path are really beautiful, with the sunlight passing through the thick leaves just in the right amount that you could enjoy basking in it. Unlike in the previous path wherein it's too hot and there are too many students glaring or flirting with each other for him to actually enjoy his morning jogs. Only, this path is farther from the University but he's jogging anyway so what's the difference a few blocks make? 

As Hikaru continued on his jog waving his hand to the child and smiling at the couple, he saw another man jogging a few meters in front of him. He wasn't so sure why but he got curious with the man even though it was just his back that he saw but he felt a different aura coming from the man that made him quite relax. The slender man in front of him with black curly hair that rest at the nape of his neck wore a black jogging pants quite similar to what Hikaru wore and a blue rubber shoes and gray shirt. Sweat are visible from his gray shirt, the man then pulled something from his pocket and tied his hair revealing his creamy white nape that made Hikaru blush by the thought of looking at a man and observing something so intimate without even knowing what the man looked like.

Don't you blink you might miss it
See we got a right to just love it or leave it
You find it and keep it
Cause it ain't every day you get the chance to say..


Hikaru decided to slow down his pace and match the man's pace to continue observing. He saw a girl wave and smile at the man and he saw the man waved back at her and continued on. Hikaru saw the girl blush and looked longingly at the man's back. Hikaru smiled at himself thinking that the man must be handsome indeed for a pretty girl to smile like that. When he looked back at the man he saw him standing at the side of the path talking to an elderly couple and saw the old lady give him an apple. Hikaru realized that he was at rest in the middle of the path gaping like a fish so he pretended to fix his shoe lace waiting for the man to continue on his path. For a while he got scared that the man would finally stop there without giving him the chance to actually talk to him. That thought struck Hikaru, 'When did I actually start planning to talk to him?' grimacing, he finally stood up just in time for the man to resume his previous pace. They were turning a corner when suddenly the man increased his pace into a full run that left Hikaru unconsciously running after him. When he turned the corner, he saw the man standing in the side of the path looking at the lake before him. He shook his sweaty hair and the hair band feel without him noticing and he continue to walk on the grass and sat by the lake. Hikaru pick up the band and tried to catch his breath and followed the man.


Oh this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart
It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun.
Oh, it could be the stars, falling from the sky
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun.

"I believe this is yours?" Hikaru said standing beside the man. The man looked up at him and suddenly grinned. The man was not handsome as Hikaru thought..he was beautiful. He has porcelain white skin and perfect nose and sensual thin lips, but what caught Hikaru's attention more was the brown eyes that seemed to be expecting his presence.

"Ahh, my stalker. Yes that's mine." The man said with an expecting smile and reached for the band.

"Eh?!" Hikaru asked bewildered, blushing by the thought of being caught.

"Are you not the one piercing his gaze at me since earlier? If I am a butter then I would be well melted now." The man grinned.

"Not that it's a bad thing though, is it?" He added patting the grass beside him motioning for Hikaru to sit down. Hikaru sat down with a blush still on his face while silently berating himself for staring too much at the same time admiring the beautiful face and front of him almost in disbelief that he got to talk to that mysterious person he was so interested since earlier.

"I'm sorry for staring..I'm Yaotome Hikaru." Hikaru introduced himself thinking that he could actually remove that "stalker" label on him if he properly introduced himself.

"Ahh that name sort of suit you don't you think? I'm Inoo Kei." Inoo smiled once again and finally lay down in the grass.

"Soo what have you found from your thorough observation of my back, Yaotome-san?" Hikaru managed to laugh with the sarcastic tone Inoo used.

"I'm sorry again for staring too much..well that you sort of have a very relaxing aura and that girl you waved at earlier is in love with you and that you looked pretty friendly..and that you have a pretty sensual nape..actually." Hikaru smiled as he lay down on the grass as well.

"Wow, you think so?" Inoo asked without removing his gaze at the clouds that were drifting by.

"Uh-huh." Hikaru answered. They settled into a comfortable silence with Inoo watching the clouds pass by and Hikaru thinking about the rather interesting guy beside him.


I never seen it, but I found this love I'm undefeated.
You better leave, I'm better than anything I've ever had
Cause you're so damn beautiful read it,
It's time and deliver it let's seal it.
Boy we go together like peanuts and paydays and molly and reggae. 


"So what does this beautiful person doing alone on such a fine day?" Hikaru asked leaning his elbow on the grass to get a better look at the man beside him.

"What? You mean me?" Inoo was pulled back from his reverie.

"I don't see anybody else who I would actually call beautiful, really." Hikaru answered urging him.

"Well..there's you." Inoo said with a smile.

"Me? Beautiful? I've never heard anyone use that word on me before." Hikaru laughed.

"Well there's me for a start." Inoo laughed as well.

"But to answer your question, I was alone because I just broke up with my boyfriend and best friend for years..well I'm pretty stupid really. I knew it, players will always be players in both aspect of the word."

"Well, what does he play?" Hikaru asked perked up by the term "boyfriend".

"Soccer." Inoo answered.

"Wait..is this Yabu-kun from the soccer club?" Hikaru asked assuming that Inoo is from the same university as well. Inoo gaped at him like a fish out of the water.

"H--how did you know?" Hikaru smiled and lay back once again.

"Well I assumed we're from the same university and the only one who looked like a 'player' in the soccer team was Yabu-kun. We were classmates in Humanities last semester.

"Wow, it's a pretty small world." Inoo sighed.

"Uh-huh." Hikaru answered.


Everything is like a way out, cause we shine down
Even when the light's out but I can see see you glow
Got my head up in the rafters, got me happy ever after
Never felt this way before, ain't this way before.


Hikaru was humming his new favorite song when they settled into another comfortable silence when suddenly the clouds were replaced by a wide eyed Inoo Kei.

"Was that Suit and Tie you were humming?!" He asked bewildered with a grin slowly settling on his face. Hikaru grinned back finding another similarity between them.

"You're a Justin Timberlake fan too?" Hikaru asked.

"I am! Phew! Finally someone who I could share this obsession with! Yabu used to say I'm too high maintenance that why can't I simply like other Japanese artist.." Inoo trailed off.

"Well one can't simply miss Justin's awesomeness. Especially his Grammys performance..." Hikaru said distracting Inoo from his thoughts about Yabu.

"Isn't it?!" Inoo shouted and the both of them laughed by how childish Inoo seemed. When the laughter died down, Inoo grabbed Hikaru's shoulder and looked at him.

"Ne, Hikaru..aren't you uncomfortable by the thought that I'm gay?" Inoo asked waiting for the worst.

"No, instead of uncomfortable..I would admit I felt relieved." Hikaru admitted looking at Inoo.

"Really? I mean I would be sad if you were uncomfortable..thanks, Hikaru." Inoo smiled..this time a smile that held so many promised opportunities for Hikaru.

"So that means we could hang out again next time?" Hikaru asked hopeful.

"I guess we could meet in the campus or maybe we could have coffee sometimes.." Inoo said.

"Or maybe I could just make this my permanent jogging path, don't you think?" Hikaru suggested.

"That would be the best idea." Inoo agreed.


In spite of being ultimately observant, this time Hikaru let the people pass by unnoticed. The both of them immersed in each other's presence like two people in love.

1. Write a short autobiography

Well, I've planned lots of summer projects as a remedy to my tendency to laze all throughout summer but as well..my grandmother had been sick and had passed away, I haven't done much other that staying with her throughout her struggle which I would still gladly do if she's still with us. I just hope she's happy now in heaven.

So instead of lazing around and doing nothing with my life, I will try to accomplish some projects with the little time left of my summer vacation.

1. Write a short autobiography

I used to think that I have some sort of summer curse wherein injuries seem to find their way to me amidst the heat of the scorching sun back in the hometown where I grew up in. Way back when I was a toddler, they said, I stepped on  burning bush and as proof I've got this tiny brown scar on my right ankle. When I heard that, I shrugged and maybe thanked god that I could not remember what sort of agony am I in that time. The next summer after that I heard, I nearly choke while eating and my grandfather literally pushed his fingers down my throat. Then there's the snake incident, the dog bite incident, the car accident, the 'almost' car accident then the huge tree branch that fell due to a lightning a few inches away from me when I was out playing in the rain which left me still shivering whenever I hear thunders. The next thing I remember is the bike accident that left me in a now faint and barely visible scar on the bridge of my nose.

As I grew older though, I started thinking that the summer curse has grown bored of my physical pains and shifted to somewhere more fragile and intolerant of pain than the physique. This is the second summer wherein I found myself in a very depressing and self-loathing mood and I'm starting to get tired of it, really. And this year my grandmother died and left me with a broken heart. I was actually pretty normal as a girl in all those possible 'girlish' aspects but what earns me some sort of incredulous looks, I believe is how I spend my time.  I think I was even more sociable way back in 2nd grade than I am right now. Although I have dozens of friends and I'm usually updated with their problems and lives, (usually leaving me with no time for my own problems) I still made it a point that nothing much from or about me is spilled out. Not from the lack of trust or anything, I just like keeping to myself. I'm not the type to get comforted by letting out a problem to a friend, I don't know why but as I grew older I prefer the silence of an empty house of the serenity of the night leaving me up late most of the nights preferably in the company of a good book. 

On the 12th year of my life here on earth, I first fell in love with a very close friend..well I don't remember much anyways.

On the 13th, I've met again the guy who will become my best friend through out my high school years.

On the 14th year, I've made lots of discoveries. ;) I've learned that I like waaay too many genre of songs and I don't even care if it's on a completely foreign language or not. I've learned about the wonderful world of anime and writing, and I've met the girl who will become another good and lovely best friend who's been stuck with me till now.

On th 15th, I've discovered the wonderful world of yaoi and the passion and realism of love that came with it.

On the 16th, I became scared of the sensation of falling (not like falling in love, doofs.) as in literally falling because of another car accident.

On the 17th, I fell in love with hardcore and philosophical literatures of Milan kundera and Haruki Murakami.

On the 18th, I've learned that half of the words I say have sexual innuendos on it, and no, I'm not sexually frustrated or anything... And I learned how painful it is to lose someone forever.

The years before those are like a blur to me and the only things I remember were: the ulcer I've got in 1st grade, mom leaving for overseas work, the three lovely sisters in the neighborhood, my lovely books, and my classmates who are scared and intimidated at me at the same time, and of course my fear of snakes.

And currently, I have this feeling that I'm a really bad fangirl, because I have so many fandoms I don't think my heart can still take it anymore.

Girlfriend extraordinaire of the High Warlock of Brooklyn, the Magnificent Magnus Bane, alumnus of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and wizardry, resident of 221B baker Street, Loves Blue Telephone Boxes. Parabatai. Will be travelling solo in a few years from now then will settle in Japan and study in Keio University or prolly work in NHK and marry Ninomiya Kazunari if Ohno would let me or at least that's what I see in my dreams.

Okay, those are rubbish.

Here's a little serious me:

Name's Kathleen. 18. Journalism student of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas. Youngest of three. Mom's cooking is nice. Dad's laptop is almost mine. Ambivert. I have different sets of friends for my different sets of personalities, so many they couldn't really understand each other.