One of the hot ARCs people were desperate to snag at YallWest 2025 is the new adventure from Chloe Gong, Coldwire. Chloe’s first two series were adaptations of Shakespeare, so there’s a lot of curiosity on how she’ll handle her first original series.

Coldwire [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is a dual POV cyberpunk story, partially set in a reality called Downcountry and partially set in a virtual world called Upcountry. Eirale is on a mission when things go sideways. She finds herself kidnapped by an anarchist and framed for murder. Nik promises to provide the footage to prove her innocense in the murder if she helps him. Nik needs Eirale’s help specifically because she’s been to the virtual city where his team is heading, but she just doesn’t remember it.

Lia is an orphan adopted by a senator, solely focused on being valedictorian of the military college so she can pick her posting and stay close to her father. There just happens to be a boy who is also chasing valedictorian, and his dad is running the military school. When their final test comes up, Lia and Kieran get paired up and injected into a server, but there are a lot of questions about what they are searching for and how it’s connected to Lia.

Initially, I had a hard time getting into Coldwire. It felt very info dump-y for several chapters, which is never a good thing. Yes, this is a complicated world and political system, but still, there are other ways to tell the reader all the things they need to know without it feeling like a massive chunk of exposition. I pressed on and things improved, then lost me, then improved again.

It was a bit of a rollercoaster until the last 150 pages, and then things got wild. I’m usually pretty good at figuring out where things are heading in a book, but Coldwire brought things together in a way I wasn’t expecting. It kinda broke my brain for a minute, and I definitely need book two to come around quickly. The rivalry banter between Lia and Kieran is so fun, and I need them to become lovers already.

131. ADDIE THORLEY: Writing a romantasy mystery that brings the banter – LiteraryHype Podcast

Send us Fan MailThis week on LiteraryHype Podcast, I made a new bestie and you get to see it all unfold. Haha! Addie Thorley is the author of Burn The Kingdom Down, which is a romantasy x murder mystery mashup. After her sister's death, our main character is forced to marry her sister's husband, but she thinks he might have been involved in her death, and therefore, she needs answers. Addie and I had the best time chatting at YallWest, so get ready for a fun and goofy conversation about writing, sisterhood, and who is really the funny one in the relationship.Links to come.Support the showSupport the podcast by shopping:EtsyMy Bookshop.org listsLibroFM audiobooksTry Audible Plus  Gift Audible Membership Glocusent LED Neck Reading LightTry Shameless Snacks10% Off at Once Upon a Bookclub10% off Goli VitaminsTWO FREE AUDIOBOOKS with new LibroFM Membership: Kindle Unlimited FREE FOR THREE MONTHS!Prime Television FREE TRIALJoin the fun!WebsiteInstagramTiktokY…