This was poorly written, the pacing was off, it was front loaded with exposition and it was boring. 

I never got to experience this sweeping, technological advanced empire, every location was small and insular and could have been anywhere. 

It wasn't a space opera, or even really scifi, it was YA romance in space.

The romance was awful. The characters had no chemistry and I didn't like Gal, I never understood what Ettian saw in him and why he was willing to sacrifice so much for him. 

There's also the ‘he's the son and heir to the empire that colonised your home and killed your people’ angle which felt icky.