Wow. Wow. Wow.
Truly I was so impressed by this book, as I return to reading more sci-fi, dystopia I was excited to hear of Gongs new book. I luckily received an arc and boy am I so pleased!?
I need people to talk about this incredible book with as soon as literally possible!!
The characters are incredible and the intricacies between the slightest interactions are *chefs kiss* and give, whilst being a novel discussing ai etc, gives a strong sense of the human behaviour. How small actions are significant and meaningful.
Especially given the state of the world, reading dystopia books with topics of data breaching, information being stored, how easily information can move and change hands and how trusting can be truly so difficult in the world this book approached it incredibly, it both brings great light to these issues but presents them to the reader in a way that isn't too overwhelming.
The world and the settings are so realistic and vivid you feel like you've been transported to a different world. This really allowed me to fall deep into the characters and allow myself to be immersed in the story as the author has covered all the parts that would maybe cause a reader to question, brilliantly done!
I sincerely loved this book and it is definitely one of my favourite reads so far this year!

A very unique dystopian story from Chloe Gong.
I've loved her previous book and this one feels different to those, but in such a good way!
I really enjoyed reading this one!

I've read Chloe Gong's other works and this felt like the most fun to read out of all of them! I loved the sci fi elements and I also loved that this is a YA book that FEELS YA - the characters are all teenagers who are a bit risky and immature, but that worked well with the flow of the story.

This felt very plot-driven and fast-paced which suited the genre well. I do wish some of the big plot twists could have happened slightly earlier so we could understand a bit more about the fallout and relationships between some of the characters, but overall it's gotten me excited to pick the next one up.

In Chloe Gong’s version of the year 2058 the world is very different from how we know it today… or is it?

Coldwire is Chloe Gong’s return to YA, a demographic she’s been familiar with since her debut with These Violent Delights and the subsequent books of the Secret Shanghai series, but this is not a genre we have seen her with as she’s strayed away from the Shakespeare retellings (also found in her Adult series, Flesh and False Gods), into a completely new dystopian world of her own creation.

Young Adult Dystopian is an intimidating genre to write as it’s full of the big names of the 2010’s such as Divergent, The Maze Runner, and of course The Hunger Games, but Gong’s novel brings us to the warring countries of Medaluo and Atahua, which is vastly different from anything I have personally read in the genre. In a not-so-distant future, the planet has been devastated by big corporations and a lack of action by the government to prevent this, NileCorp, has created a virtual reality called upcountry, an exact replica of the world people live in or downcountry, which is inhabitable, and is accessed by the StrangeLoom, a subscription-based service run by NileCorp in order for people to live their lives as normally as possible.

To get to know as much of the world as we can, the story is told from the perspective of our two main characters Eirale and Lia. Eirale, a soldier for NileCorp’s private forces on a mission in downcountry, is framed for the assassination of a politician by Nik Grant, a famous anarchist, who gives her the choice of collaborating with him to find a program in Medaluo or be labelled as an assassin and charged with treason. Meanwhile, Lia is in her last year at Nile Military Academy, when she is assigned to her final posting to uncover a mystery in upcountry along with her academic rival, Kieren Murray. Through the eyes of both of these characters, we explore Medaluo in both of its planes to better understand society in 2058, the secrets hidden by NileCorp, and the extent they will go to to keep them from the public.

Although the first half of the book felt slower due to all the world building needed to introduce us to the world of Coldwire, it was in no way boring or unnecessary, The second half was my favorite as it was fast paced with many plot twists and cliffhangers, which were all well done. You could put the pieces together but not quite guess exactly what was going to happen. The characters, although there are both many in upcountry and downcountry, are all unique.

It’s been incredible to see Chloe grow as an author and find her voice outside of Shakespeare retellings. I can’t wait to read the next installment, as I know that Chloe will outdo herself as she always does.

Gong’s world sounds very different from the reality we live in, but upon closer inspection we can realize that it is not the case at all. One of my favorite things about reading Coldwire was the subtle critiques and parallels Gong draws from our world today to her world in Coldwire. I think now, more than ever, the messages in her writing have become relevant given the state of affairs of our modern society in 2025.

An entertaining novel with lovable and relatable characters and a wild ride filled with twists and turns you definitely do not want to miss, Coldwire serves its purpose as a true dystopian novel with its underlying message about a future when countries are run by corporations willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, may be closer than we think.

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for a Digital Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel very conflicted about this. One the one hand I think this was a clear improvement from Chloe Gong's other books, she finally toned down the metaphors and the writing was actually fine in this one, which was a surprise for me. I thought the concept was really cool, I liked the worldbuilding and what she did with it.

I didn't really warm up to the characters, I found them very annoying and childish and the dialogue was often kind of weird. I also didn't love the plot and the pacing, it felt very all over the place, sometimes scenes were confusing and it was hard to follow, especially towards the end. I also found the ending kind of disappointing, and it didn't really make me curious to read the next one.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

Cold Wire is a thrilling, high-stakes dystopian novel that completely drew me in from the first chapter. Chloe Gong has crafted a world that feels both chillingly futuristic and eerily plausible, with its stark divide between the privileged “upcountry” citizens living in virtual reality and the abandoned “downcountry” left to crumble. The tension between Medaluo and Atahua adds another layer of danger, especially for the Medan orphans trapped in a system that sees them as either soldiers or spies.

I honestly enjoyed Cold Wire far more than These Violent Delights. While I appreciated Gong’s writing in her debut, I found Cold Wire tighter, grittier, and better paced, with higher emotional stakes. The characters felt more complex, and the world-building was incredibly vivid, pulling me into the brutal reality of Nile Military Academy and the constant threat of war.

In terms of dystopian fiction, Cold Wire stands out—it’s much stronger and more engaging than Silver Elite. The themes of survival, loyalty, and identity are woven seamlessly into the plot, and the political intrigue kept me turning pages. This book delivers everything I want from the genre: sharp commentary, complex characters, and a world that feels dangerously close to ours.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I’m excited to see where this series goes next.

This cyberpunk dystopia was everything I hoped for. The “upcountry” vs “downcountry” divide was such a cool (although terrifyingly plausible) and unique concept. Imagine a world where everyone escapes into a virtual utopia while the rest of us are stuck in a crumbling reality….

The characters are great; the amount of chaos they manage to achieve in that book should be studied! The military academy setting is brutal and the twists are shocking. Some I saw coming, some made my jaw drop. The world building is top notch - as it is a sci-fi book, it can feel like you’re getting a loooot of information your way but at the same time, it’s book 1 of a trilogy so I feel like this was a very good set up for the following books.

It was a good first dive into this world, I was invested the whole time and I definitely will be back to read book 2!

Life as we know it doesn’t exist anymore; due to epidemics, climate change, pollution, etc. humanity has decided to leave ‘’downcountry’ and to move to virtual reality aka ‘upcountry’. The story unfolds through two different POV; the first one is Eirale, a young soldier who graduated from Nile Military Academy and now works for NileCorp’s private forces ‘downcountry’. Her life completely changes once she is framed for murder by Nik Grant, an anarchist she was tasked to stop. The second POV follows Lia, who will soon graduate from Nile Military Academy, but has to team up with her arch nemesis for her last exam.

First of all, I loved the concept of ‘downcountry’ and ‘upcountry’ and all the little glimpses we get of how things have evolved and how the majority of our lives are now lived virtually. You can tell Chloe Gong really thought about the impact this way of living would have on humanity and how AI is - and will - impact us more and more. To name a few; I found the concept of the ‘Wakeman syndrome’ fascinating and also how having a vidéo isn't evidence enough and needs to be corroborated by eye witness testimony because it’s so easy to make a deepfake.

The book is very plot driven and there’s a lot of action taking place. You never endure the risk of being bored.

I found out one of the but plot twist quite early in the book and wished that the actual reveal could have happened earlier so we would have had more time, with the characters to sit with this information and understand how it impacted everyone.

As I said it’s a very plot driven book and I felt I didn’t get to know the characters in depth and felt (no pun intended) very disconnected from them. I also didn’t enjoy the ‘romance’ part of the book because of that and didn’t really care what would happen to the different characters. I kept on wishing we would have seen more of Lia during her school years to better understand her connection to her arch nemesis because they have know each other for years but we only get glimpses of their relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley, Chloe Gong and Hodder & Stoughton for an e-arc of this book 🖤

Minor spoilers!
.my thoughts.
Chloe Gong YOU MASTERMIND?!?!

I'm genuinely in love with this book? The way it was written was mass perfection, the characters? Funny, intriguing, and captivating. The plot was absolutely shocking, the twists I did not expect at all! I was way shocked, and smiling because I have never felt like that in a longer time.

From reading about the old Shanghai of 1920s where there's a strange epidemic, we are transported into this cyberpunk place, where the year is 2038, and everything has been mass developed, and divided into upcountry and downcountry.

The Medan orphans in Atahua, are supposed to join the Nile Military Academy and become a soldier in work, or be turned in as a spy. It's the same as Eirale did, and Lia is doing, but both are small pieces of a larger potrait, one they both won't able to believe, because I didn't either.

The plot was executed very perfectly, even when I was thinking about how everything is, the second half practically bombshelled it on me. Like it's eating everything inside me to not have the second book in my hands to read.

Starting off from the characters, all have their own potential that I loved, they delivered the exact thing and I enjoyed having them onscreen.

Lia Ward, genuinely I loved her so much, her teasing Kieran and Rayna was the best, and it takes everything in me not to go inside the book and hug her after the truth she finds out </3.

Kieran Murray, the nemesis, is the man, actually he is, the way he competes with her on everything!? Oh my, and when he knew where to find her has me like🤭🎀. I honestly don't know the fact what I'm gonna do when I get second book, because he's the mastermind here too!!

Eirale is a strong character, and the way she fights Nik at every steps has me intrigued, like how come she does it? she's very intelligent and I ought to be like her bahaha.

Nik Grant is the smartest one, first of all him planning everything smartly till the very end has me on a good hold, intrigued generally.

I actually don't have enough words to describe how much everything is done perfectly to an extent I want the second book NOW!!!! The romance is a subplot too, but it takes all my heart!💓.

Generally Netgalley took my ability to write quotes so I have none of them right now and I can't reopen it makes it even worse! :(, like I wanna go back to my bbs💓

Convincing y'all to read this if you love sci-fi, cyberpunk, angry love confession in the rain [you heard it right] and found family kinda with friendship vibes, and also mastermind plotting.

Unfortunately the arc is near unreadable. Sentences have no spacing. If the publishing house fixes it, I can try to read again. But as it is, the formatting issues means that the arc is not readable by any standard.