I am... so behind on my NetGalley reviews, which means I'm attempting to write reviews for books I read several months ago, the first of which is Coldwire! I truly, truly loved this book--I'm a Chloe Gong stan until the day I die, and Coldwire is the perfect example as to why I love her work, in this compulsively readable cyberpunk dystopian novel.

The world of Coldwire is split in two: “downcountry”, or the real world, has been ravaged by climate catastrophe, and the wealthy have moved to “upcountry”, a utopic virtual reality world untouched by pollution and illness. But even upcountry cannot remain untouched by the cold war raging between rivaling nations, or the mandated enrollment of Medan war-orphans in Atahua’s military academy.

Coldwire alternates perspectives between Eirale, a graduate of the military academy and current soldier in NileCorp’s private forces, and Lia, a current student and adopted daughter of a high-ranking politician. In downcountry, Eirale is a hostage on the run with a notorious anarchist after he framed her for an assassination. In upcountry, Lia is sent to infiltrate Medulo with her academic rival as she vies for valedictorian.

I’m going to be honest: It’s been several months since I read this book, so some of the details are on the fuzzier side in my memory, but I know that I absolutely loved it. Through the characters of Eirale and Lia, we get very different perspectives on Atahua and NileCorp, upcountry and downcountry, and as the story progresses the way that their two perspectives weave into a story is so well done. I found both of their perspectives, storylines, and romantic entanglements equally compelling, and was completely hooked into this book from page one. In typical Chloe Gong fashion, while I thought that I was following the narrative, catching on to where the twists and turns of the story would take me–I was completely wrong. Once you get to the final act of this book, the reveals and twists hit you over the head one after the other for the rest of the book, and they are so well crafted and utterly mind-boggling that I was giddy on the adrenaline high of reading.

My thoughts immediately after finish the book were just: WHAT THE FUCK WHATTHEFUCKWHATTHEFUCK, and you know what? I think that just about sums it up. I was champing at the bit for Deadlock, and I am still so excited to pick that one up soon! I can’t wait to see where the story goes after the explosive ending of Coldwire.

Rating: 5 stars

Thank you to Margaret K. Elderberry for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.