At first, I loved this book - it was hard to put down, I loved the way the author told the story and the way it was written. Also I thought that the idea of the novel itself was really intriguing and while reading I was constantly calling out to my husband "omg you won't believe it, now xyz happened!" Until I had read about 2/3 of this novel, I was sure that this was a 5 star book for sure.
Unfortunately, I didn't know that this wasn't supposed to be a stand alone novel but the first part of a series. It shows in the last third of the book, which I found lacked all the qualities that I loved at the beginning. In the end the "solution" was presented in a deus ex machina manner while setting the stage for the next book.
For me, a great ending can transform even a bad book or movie into a great one - unfortunately, a great book with a lackluster ending will spoil the whole book for me. Pity...

I don't usually write reviews but for this I make an exception. This is a 3.5 star rating.
I picked it up as a Freebie and all through maybe the first 40% of the book I kept telling my husband that I would drop it and not continue reading because there was so much stuff that annoyed me. But... I kept reading. And starting to really, really like Brooks. And the Austen thing was so cute (I have read Emma but can't remember much of it so I can not comment on that). The minor characters were cute too. Did I say cute? It was a light and happy read, just what I needed.
I'm glad I picked it up. Now I'm curious about the Pride & Prejudice retelling!

Let me preface this by saying that I'm a huge Emperor's Edge Fan. I love that series and when Buroker wrote in her Afterword to Book #5 of EE that she would first write Decrypted which would then tie in with EE, I knew I had to read it.
What a mistake. I usually don't write reviews, but this book has been the biggest disappointment since Sanderson's Mistborn #3.

I read Encrypted first and somewhat enjoyed it - it had its flaws but was an interesting read. I thought Decrypted had to be better because Buroker would have become a more experienced writer in the meantime, right? Wrong.

This book has nothing in common with Encrypted. There, Tikaya was a capable linguist who could stand her own even in dangerous circumstances.
Here, she is just stupid without any redeeming characteristics to her. Throughout the whole book, she stumbles from one situation into another without her actions making any kind of sense. No one in their situation would act like that. If you return home and everybody is out to kill your lover and possibly yourself who in their right mind would stay there? But oh they can't leave because else we'd have no book.
Everything is just oh so convenient: Oh, the President, who she knows from the getgo will be her only supporter, isn't there? And conveniently returns JUST at the end exactly in time to solve the plot? Oh, Rias wants to build a submarine, but oh, coincidence, the biggest Kyattese mystery lays at the bottom of the ocean so that's bad! Oh, you want Rias show more away from your island but instead of putting him on the next ship never to be seen again you allow him to build the ship you are afraid of in the first place!? Oh, he wins an old ship and is then perfectly capable of constructing a hyper modern submarine out of only this even if supposedly the Kyattese have next to no metal? And no one notices?! Oh, they need an energy source and only two people can Make one, and both have reason to hate you - but no problem, one of them is a fan of Rias even though he supposedly is a hated war criminal because she has read fanfic about him?! Oh, there is a Turgonian diplomat on the island but conveniently, he never shows up until he is mentioned at the last moment to explain away the baffling circumstances throughout the book? Oh, the Kyattese are peaceful people yet EVERY telepath we encounter thinks nothing of intruding into every mind without consent? While I'm at it, the Kyattese are supposed to be very modern and tolerant but the only thing they're doing is violating all kinds of human rights. Yeah, sure.

I can overlook things like that easily if the story is engaging enough or if I like the characters. But the way Tikaya is a stupid character without any agency rubbed me the most. I read these books because I love their strong female leads, but Tikaya#2 was one of the worst leads in a long time. Nevermind that she is supposed to be thirty and an accomplished scholar, you'd think she is a 16 year old teenager in love, defying her parents for the first time because she doesn't know better. What a disappointment.

This books gets 2 stars instead of 1 only because the story was just compelling enough to see it to the end, even though the grand mystery turns out to be not very exciting after all. It has nothing to do with this "Alien" culture we encountered in EE which was another disappointment - throughout the book I was sure that the basin they were talking about were the place where the alien craft in EE#5 had come from, but no. Why, it's only the sequel to the Alien culture book and titled "Decrypted" even though they don't decrypt anything worthwhile at all.

In short: if you want to read this book because you want to continue on with EE - don't do it, it's not worth your time. Read EE#6 instead. If you haven't read any EE book - go read them. The first is free. They are awesome! show less