I'm not sure what I'm missing. This book has great reviews, and as far as imaginative world building goes, this book was great. However, I failed to connect with the characters. Daliena was really the only believable character, but her interactions with her love interests were lacking. Ven was...I don't even know. A rouge? A Cassanova? An exemplar of morality? And none of the heirs felt fleshed out. I wasn't a fan of the ending, although the poem at at onset foreshadows the level of violence exhibited by the end. I doubt I'll continue the series. Lots of promise here, but it just failed to draw me in. But like I said, there are a million other favorable reviews, so it could just be me.