Chloe Gong has knocked this out of the park once again.

I have never been so excited to recive an ARC, as I was to recieve Coldwire by Chloe Gong. I have been a fan of hers since These Violent Delights came out, owning and reading every book she publishes. She really does hold a part of my heart.

Coldwire was beautiful, fast paced and exiting - the thrills and twists keeping me reading the whole time. Another Chloe Gong worldbuilding masterpiece, which sets the scene, draws you in, and then stays captive within your mind for the rest of time.

The main characters meshed perfectly, and worked well together - their storylines weaving together to create a masterpiece where they grew as people.

Coldwire by Chloe Gong is an electrifying cyberpunk dystopian that’s as addictive as it is unsettling. Set in the near future, the planet is divided into two parts: the idyllic ‘upcountry’ virtual reality, and the deteriorating ‘downcountry’. As a cold war rages, we follow two young soldiers in a fight for survival.

The worldbuilding in Coldwire is phenomenal, blending cyberpunk aesthetics with sharp political commentary to create a setting that feels completely unique yet disturbingly familiar. From the sleek, corporate controlled upcountry to the gritty, desolate downcountry, every aspect of the world is layered with history, tension, and purpose. Gong masterfully intertwines critique of corporate control, social inequality, and the seduction of digital escape, creating a dystopian that feels chillingly plausible.

A highlight of the book for me was the dual narrative structure. We alternate between Eirale, a military operative unjustly framed for assassination, and Lia, a driven academy student on the brink of graduation. Each character was exceptionally crafted, and I found myself equally invested in both Eirale’s and Lia’s stories. The strength of their characterisation made switching between their perspectives feel seamless and rewarding, with each chapter revealing new layers to their personalities and the wider world.

Every sentence in Coldwire feels layered with double meaning, where even the smallest detail or line of dialogue hints at deeper truths and hidden agendas. Each character interaction is a carefully placed piece of a larger puzzle, steadily building toward a conclusion that will leave you shocked and desperately craving the next instalment in the series.

I would highly recommend this book not only to long time fans of the dystopian genre, but also to readers looking for a bold and captivating entry point into it.

4 stars! ⭐️

honestly, this worried me a bit as i havent read a true ya book in a long time + chloe gong’s writing has always been quite a hit or miss for me? idk why but i didnt vibe with these violent delights or immortal longings at all for example. chloe’s writing, while good, i found sometimes to be extremely slow. and yet, i absolutely loved foul lady fortune’s plot and writing and cold wire was one i really enjoyed as well!

i may also have just been in a mood for the cyberpunk scifi dystopia feel and this really hit the spot. this may just be me but it reminded me a little bit of how i felt when i saw The Death Cure movie (which i loved btw) and i was just so immersed!

thank you netgalley, it was a pleasure this one 🫶

i haven’t read (or finished) any of Gong’s recent work and the latest i read was FLF which was good and interesting so i was genuinely shocked by how underwhelming and lackluster this one felt in comparison.

Coldwire surely an ambitious and bold attempt of Chloe Gong to venture into dystopian cyberpunk. on paper it has all the trappings of a compelling speculative fiction; corporate control, political unrest, AI undercurrents, and an oppressive capitalist system. i can see that Gong clearly intended to engage with weighty, relevant themes. funny that i just discovered that she wrote this years ago and this themes & elements feel more relevant than ever in today’s world.

regardless, much to my disappointment and distress, the plot and characters didn’t deliver the impact i was hoping for.

told through dual POVs: Eirale, a corporate soldier wrongfully finds herself framed for a murder, and Lia, a student at nile military academy who is tasked with a final exam that borders on impossible. this premise has LOTS of potential, but i found the execution lacking. the characters felt underdeveloped and the chemistry between them (Eirale Nik & Lia Kieran) lacked authenticity, almost like recycled versions of Gong’s past characters. the attempt to explore “morally grey” territory also fell terribly flat. especially with some jarring logic in the narrative. for example there’s a part where mc reflects on the idea that someone/the other side being "more worse" somehow justifies another person's actions (which is killing people btw). there didn’t seem to be much of a moral dilemma, even though the stakes were supposed to be high. i obviously aware the author tried to do morally grey archtype character and i could be sold with that but in this case it’s just terrible writing especially in how the character rationalizes or sympathizes with someone who’s clearly doing morally questionable things. i think Gong handled this better in TVD & FLF. though with different context, the portrayal & framing are more decent.

and honestly, the beginning kinda already threw me off. (minor spoiler) the main character gets kidnapped and just a chapter later, she’s kind of... just going along with it? even become friends? i get that she was told to play along for hidden mission etc etc but there has to be a better way to handle this bc it’s sooo boring and flat 😭 no banter truly makes me engaged. i don’t trust this enemies to lovers and childhood friends to academic rivals to lovers bs, clearly made just to tick off the boxes and tropes.

while i can see how this might resonate with a younger audience or fans of light dystopian fiction, i personally didn’t find much emotional depth or surprise in the plot. the story seems to rely on familiar tropes rather than pushing boundaries, and compared to Gong’s previous work, it felt more surface-level.

arc kindly provided by hodder & stoughton via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This was easily a five-star read in terms of story. I'm only taking away a star because the beginning was so slow—it took more than half the book to properly pick up. I'd even considered DNF-ing at one point, but the world-building was so interesting, that I just couldn't. Would have been a BIG mistake!

There haven't been many science-fiction settings that have done virtual worlds as well as Chloe Gong does in Coldwire. I can't really say much without giving something away, but the way events turned out took me by surprise. While you suspect how the two stories—Lia's and Eirale's—are likely to merge, when it happens, the way it happens takes your breath away. Looks like there will be at least another book to continue Lia, Eirale, Kieran, Nik, and their friends' stories. I'll be waiting.

I am confused but also in love with this book. The futuristic themes of artificial intelligence and sentience are really relevant in today's day and age. I absolutely adored the dynamics between all of the characters and it feel like classic Chloe Gong. Looking forward to the next books in the series,

This book was insanely good. Chloe never disappoints!! Such a fantastic concept and I think Chloe did such a good job of portraying parallels in this dystopian novel with whats happening in the world today. The ending left me absolutely shook and I need the next book in my hands already!!

Dnf @ 50%. I can't get into this, I keep trying to go back to it and struggling to find myself invested in the story. Or perhaps it's the theme that doesn't fully appeal to me, since its kind of a dystopian/cyberpunk-esque setting???

Honestly, Chloe Gongs books have always been hit or miss for me, but I know that she's super popular and I can't fault her writing. I just think a lot of the time the plot fails to interest me enough and I just lose the motivation to continue.

I think the majority of readers will enjoy this as it's certainly a new fresh take on the dystopian genre - and believe me it's certainly a genre I tired of when it was the 'cool' trend some years back. Personally this is not a theme I care for anymore, but I think a lot of readers will eat this up. I believe it leans more towards YA fiction but I honestly feel like it would appeal to all readers.

Told in a double pov, the story focuses on characters Eirale - a corporate soldier and Lia - a student. When Eirale finds herself framed by Nik Grant, one of the country's most notorious anarchists for a murder she didn't commit, she finds herself having to work alongside him in order to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, Lia is studying at the Nile Military Academy, a prestigious academy where she's been assigned an impossible task as part of her final exam.

I guess for me I couldn't relate much to the characters; honestly they're quite young, which is fine, I'm just not the target audience I feel.
I think the world building in itself was beautifully developed and there's a lot of depth to be had as the story tackles themes such as politics, capitalism and technology.

Regardless of the fact I didn't finish this, I will still rate it 3 stars because I do think it will appeal to other readers, and I also do feel like Chloe's writing has improved since her debut novel.

Hopefully I will enjoy her next book series, as I certainly would be willing to continue to read more of her books in future.

Sadly, the ARC is unreadable. The sentences are spaced together, and the format is messy when sent via PDF format to Kindle. I'd be happy to read it properly once the ARC formatting is fixed.

rating: 5/5

watch your step, you might trip over my jaw on the floor. CHLOE GONG WHAT DID YOU EAT FOR BREAKFAST TO CONJURE AND WRITE COLDWIRE

i literally don't know where to start because I have so much things that I love about this book

overall - YA dystopia has been resurrected and i am in full breakdown mode on the floor, fetal position, crying and desperate....nothing can save me but the next book.

world building - the amount of detail and thought to bring atahua, medaluo, Nilecorp etc to life should be studied. I'm not gonna lie, I did feel lost at the start of the book, and there were times where I felt like the pacing of the plot was dialled down to expand on the lore and worldbuilding. But that is not a complaint from me, because I don't think I would love the ending as much as I do if I hadn't been fully immersed and connected to the world that Chloe Gong built. Painstakingly, this is only book one of a trilogy so I am excited to see how she builds on the foundations set in Coldwire (the amount of theory crafting going on in my head right now is insaneee)

plot - holy moly, i wish I can wipe my brain and read it again for the first time... BECAUSE THAT ENDING? wild. I think around the 60% mark is where it all started clicking in my brain and I could see where the story was heading but I did not expect it to be like that, gosh. The stakes were high, the tension was tensioning and i had a physical reaction to the plot twist. This book also felt like a social and political commentary for me and I swear this book could also be thriller... i can definitely imagine a world like this materialising into our reality, capitalism is everywhere, unfortunately.

characters and character dynamics - i truly love all the characters we meet in this story. Lia and Kieren are my most absolute faves. THEIR BANTER? it actually might be my favourite part of the book. I thought enemies to lovers was my endgame trope… but rivals to lovers has entered the arena and I’m starting to spiral (help). I could probably best describe their dynamic as "if you were on fire and i had the last bucket of water, I would go water the plants" like UGH it's the type of playful banter that can only come from years of watching and knowing each other. ALSO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THE RELUCTANT ALLIES TROPE, AND THIS BOOK SCREAMS IT FROM THE TOP OF THE BUILDINGS. Eirale and Nik were also really fun to follow - whenever Eirale spoke about working to pay off her debts, i felt personally attacked. From one corporate slave to another, chloe gong wrote Eirale in a way where she was tough and badass but still have a layer of vulnerability within her. AND NIK?? wow, no notes. perfection. where do I sign up to join his gang (i'd loveeeeeee to be friends with miz and blare).

romance - as a romance reader, i have high standards. BUT MS GONG DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I will highlight that Coldwire is a romance subplot, which means that the story can exist without it but the story itself is already a 10/10 so now add a sprinkle of romance on top of it? stop I'm actually going to die. The slow burn was simmering, and I will re-read scenes till I commit them to memory <3. That's all I'm going to say...

I will continue to think about this book until the release in November (and mayhaps for the indefinite future).

Thank you to Chloe Gong, Hodder & Stoughton & NetGalley for the eARC. This review is honest and 100% mine <3

✨️𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆
In a world where virtual reality is paradise for the privileged and scraps for the rest, two young soldiers—Eirale and Lia—find their lives twisted together by a conspiracy that threatens everything. Eirale is a downcountry operative framed for murder and blackmailed into helping an anarchist spy. Lia is upcountry’s star cadet fighting for valedictorian and forced into a mission that puts her life and loyalty on the line. As their paths collide between real and virtual battlefields, conspiracies unravel and trust becomes the most dangerous weapon.

🍵𝗧𝗲𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
This book is exactly what happens when you microwave your anxiety, mix it with ambition and betrayal, then chug it at midnight. Eirale is pure rage wrapped in regret, Lia is ambition personified—and watching them collide in one VR-shattered timeline is like watching glass break in slow motion. I was half screaming at my Kindle, half crying because the emotional stakes are nuclear.

The world-building flickers between gleaming VR paradise and real-world ruin with such gritty detail it felt like wallpaper scorched by revolution. Lines blur: who’s the real enemy—the hacker, the soldier, or the system that built them? Coldwire is an all-out explosion of political thriller and heartbreak dipped in neon blood, and I won’t recover. ⌛ I read the last 100 pages in three hours and now I fear my actual reality.

Dystopian cyberpunk is a genre that needs to be in, and I can see this being a trend setter because this was AMAZING.

I won't lie, I feel like I would sound like a broken record reviewing Chloe Gong's books unless she does something to change. I'm most likely the minority here, but this book would've done wonders with plenty of editing and plot tweaks here and there, because for something so fast paced, it's actually a crime how boring and insubstantial it is.

I've come to accept that the dystopian genre has been used more as an aesthetic lately rather than a clear, nuanced discussion on society and how it has regressed. I love the cyberpunk concept and the idea behind this book, but the execution was done rather poorly. The writing was so incredibly juvenile that it rivaled the work of 12-year-olds on Wattpad, and it's almost insulting for it to happen, considering she wrote quite well in her first two books. So, what exactly happened here...
Also, I feel like I need to point out how Chloe Gong's growth as a writer doesn't go up nor does it stay stagnant but somehow, she found ways to be slightly worse than before. I talked about this before, but the more she writes, the more she just repeats the same formula that got her the success that Secret Shanghai garnered, and it's getting fucking boring. The same snarky and sassy and badass main characters who gets more brainless with each series, the same hate and love dynamic with the love interests, the same boring and insubstantial majority of the book followed with a sudden punch at the end just to make sure you stay tuned to her sequels even though it does NOT made up for the mess of the rest of the book, the same info dumping at the wrong times that breaks the flow of the book... I mean, will I ever read something new from her?

All in all, I don't think this book is complete garbage nor is it a disgrace towards humanity, but I had high hopes for this and it is fully shattered with miles and miles of disappointment. I wish this book were better executed, but alas... maybe everyone else would like this more than I do.

Chloe Gong jumps genres with Coldwire, delivering a cyberpunk dystopia that feels both eerily futuristic and unsettlingly plausible. Set in a world divided between the elite “Upcountry” virtual utopia and the decaying “Downcountry” reality, the novel follows two girls on opposite sides of a crumbling system: Eirale, a soldier framed for assassination and forced to cooperate with a notorious anarchist, and Lia, a student reluctantly paired with her academic rival for a final, high-stakes mission.

I found the premise immediately intriguing. Virtual reality, cold war tensions, and rebel conspiracies. And while the opening chapters took a little time to settle into, once the plot found its rhythm, I was hooked. The dual POV structure works well, especially as the two girls’ storylines spiral closer. I personally connected more with Lia’s chapters (the rivals-to-lovers tension was perfectly executed), but Eirale’s journey into the murkier sides of loyalty and survival added much-needed grit.

There’s a lot going on from political scheming, virtual espionage, found family to rebellion, but Gong keeps it grounded in character. And that ending? Chaotic, clever, and satisfyingly twisty. The world feels like a natural evolution of our own, which makes its commentary on tech, surveillance, and class divide all the more unsettling.

It’s classic Chloe Gong: smart, sharp, and emotionally charged, but in a fresh cyberpunk shell. Can’t wait to see where the sequel takes us.

4.5/5 Stars

My first Chloe Gong book and I’m about to make my way through her entire backlist!

We follow two parallel journeys: Eirale in downcountry and Lia in upcountry, the virtual reality copy of the real world. I loved both POVs and the side characters were great too! The academic rivalry between Kieren and Lia was so much fun and I loved the banter between Nik and Eirale. The subtle romance subplot was phenomenal - it didn’t take over the story but created a simmering tension throughout.

The book did take me a few chapters to get into it. Though the world building isn’t overly complex, it took a bit getting used to. The way AI and virtual reality work in this world Chloe created are fascinating and also scary (given the current state of our world) - I loved the way commentary on social issues, politics and climate change was woven in.

With more world building in the first half of the book, the plot felt a bit slower but it picked up in the second half and I couldn’t put it down! I had so many theories and all of them were wrong! The story took turns I didn’t expect (in the best way possible) and when I got to the end I just stared at my wall for a few minutes trying to process what I just read because wow! I absolutely loved that I couldn’t see any of the twists coming!

If you enjoy fast-paced dystopian books with great characters and amazing plot, definitely add this book to your TBR!

This genuinely might be one of Chloe Gong's best books yet 🫡

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have sooo much to say about this book so buckle up 😅

When I saw one of my favourite authors was releasing a YA cyberpunk book I was all over it immediately, and she STILL managed to exceed my expectations!

The worldbuilding in this is genuinely phenomenal. Not only does she do a fantastic job explaining the complicated technology of Strangeloom with their virtual "upcountry" and real life "downcountry", our characters also travel through several countries and cities within them, all of which felt fully fleshed out and were utilised in a way that made the story feel so much more real — as well as making a point. 😌

One of the problems I've often encountered in YA speculative fiction since The Hunger Games came out are these dystopian worlds that are just there to be cool, rather than actually saying something about society. But Coldwire isn't afraid of making it clear exactly what the evil corporation of NileCorp is critiquing... and the worldbuilding is still very cool and entertaining for younger readers. 🙏

The real part of this book that shines is the dual perspective, which always feels a bit risky for me because I'm fast to lose interest if one character's POV is a lot more exciting than the other's. Although Coldwire took a little bit of time to actually get moving with the plot, once it was off, it was OFF. For the last 100 pages of this book you couldn't have pried my phone out of my cold, dead hand because I needed to know what was happening next. 😂

And the PLOT TWISTS???? Holy shit. I am talking hand smacked over my mouth, sitting in bed rocking back and forth whispering "oh my god" over and over, and chapter 45 will go down in history alongside Victoria Aveyard's "no I don't think so" as perhaps one of the best plot twists of all time. When I say I had to do a lap around the room... 🤯

I will absolutely be picking up a physical copy of this book in November and I can't wait for the sequel! 💙

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder Books for sending me an early e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 🥰

I really enjoyed this, especially the latter 40%. It has been such a long time since I have read a book with separate stories following different characters, so this definitely took some getting used to. That's very much a me issue though. Once I got into it, I could hardly put it down. The story is clever, action packed, and full of heart. I am really looking forward to seeing where this story goes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the digital copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Finally a book that feels like the ya dystopian era of old! and a good one at that. The concept for this world was so interesting and topical given today’s technological climate.

I will say that I did find the plot a bit confusing for a good 60% of this book, and would find myself frustrated with some of the characters, but the pieces do fit into place when you finish the whole story. The pay off at the end makes up for a lot of the confusion; on a reread, I think this will read more cohesively.

This book is definitely something unique and fresh from Chloe Gong. It is her most ambitious work to date and I will absolutely be tuning in for the sequel.

My first ever book form Chloe Gong and I was NOT DISAPPOINTED! This was amazing! The beginning and the middle part dragged a bit but the last 75% blew my mind so much. I did not expect any of the plot twists and turns. There was SO MANY false leads and red herrings that made me question everything but once when everything was revealed, I was more than shocked. I cannot for the next installment!

As the world is deteriorating, the society decided to move to Upcountry, a virtual reality, where this problem is no longer relevant, while others, that are unable to afford this, stay in the real world, now known as Downcountry. We have two protagonists that we follow throughout the story - Eirale, a soldier, tasked with catching a rebellious criminal, who keeps escaping authorities and Lia, who, before finishing her last year in Nile Military Academy in Upcountry, still has to do one assignment, while dealing with her academic rival. And if that isn't complicated enough, there is also a cold war brewing between two different nations = Atahua and Medaluo - which affects our heroines in every step of the way. This is a dystopian story, which makes you think that maybe one day something similar might happen and it probably wouldn't be that far in the future. It also makes you question "how far will we go" with the technology we have to day and how it will evolve in the future generations. And last, but not least, it talks about politics and how the world that is constantly changing, affects the political climate as well.

I'm very familiar with Chloe Gong (I read the whole Secret Shanghai series and Immortal Longings), so it was easy to get into this book as I know her writing style well. Also, I was really in the concept, wondering how it will play out. I think the author created very interesting, fleshed-out characters, which makes it easy to get attached to them. I really loved Lia, to me personally she was the best and most of the time I preferred her perspective over Eirale's. However, Eirale provided a very good opposition when it came to Lia, both characters having their own journeys throughout the book. Similarly, the boys - Nik and Kieren - were good additions to the story in their own way, although their relationships with the girls were quite different. I really liked the others as well, I think Rayna and Miz were very good, as well as Clare, although I would have preferred to see more of Hailey. However, I'm sure that she will have a bigger role in the sequel. I think the world building was done very well, it wasn't complicated to understand all the intricacies of Upcountry/Downcountry as well as relationship between the two warring countries. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with all the plot-twists (I had a lot of theories and they were mostly wrong, which is great as a lot of things were not very predictable) and how it was told, with everything becoming crystal clear in the very end. I'm really glad I got a chance to pick this up a few months before the official release date although this probably means that I will have to wait for the sequel longer. Nevertheless, I will be patiently waiting as I'm very curious to find out where this will go.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!