Maybe this is just due to post-reading high(?) but at this time, I'm giving this book 5 stars. However, this might change because I'm planning to reread to search for things I missed earlier (probably not). I'm going to keep things vague but idk, I may edit my review to add more details closer to the release date.

Coldwire has everything I personally love in fiction. Honestly, give me an intriguing cyberpunk world, slightly mysterious characters with [?? pasts], and a sprinkling of romance, and I'll be very happy and will probably ignore any/most of the issues I have with the work. Genuinely, this is THE book I've been waiting for. My exact cup of tea. So aligned with all my preferences and tastes that I feel like I'm dreaming.

I love the cyberpunk subgenre. Initially, I was always drawn to the aesthetic —the melancholy it evokes and the neon-drenched streets— but then I delved deeper into what cyberpunk truly is. I was captivated by the horrors of megacorporations controlling literally everything in a world ruined by humanity's greed (terrifying), the high-tech, low-life aspect, and the way that in the subgenre, there will always be a spark of hope willing to revolutionize, to go against corruption and fight for a better future (it is in the name, after all). I could go on and on about cyberpunk, but I'll give my actual review of the book below.

Chloe Gong's take on a cyberpunk world is definitely one of my favourites that I have read about. The sparkling future of virtual reality's upcountry is a stark contrast to the pollution and disease found in downcountry. This is especially evident in the POV chapters of Eirale and Lia. I thought that Eirale's chapters did have a colder feel to them, which made sense due to the grittier real-world setting. On the other hand, Lia's chapters felt lighter and had more humour, which also made sense, given that Eirale is a soldier and Lia is a student. Also, there was a fun academic rivalry thing going on with Lia and [redacted] which I am a sucker for. I did look forward to Lia's chapters more, but as things progressed, I ended up enjoying both POVs almost equally, and loved the action scenes and worldbuilding! I adore Chloe's writing style, and there is one particular scene that filled me with dread so I just wanted to add that I especially loved that.

I had such a great time trying to piece out how everything connected, and though I predicted parts of it, I did not figure out the larger whole until it was revealed! The moment the truth came out, I knew I had to reread from the beginning since I did catch some callbacks to earlier chapters, some of which made me giggle a little. Ughh now I will be impatiently waiting for book 2 :(( I really wanted to draw out my reading experience and savour it but I couldn't help myself.

Thank you SO MUCH to Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.