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Coup de Grâce
Vicken has a plan: throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal and end it all for good, believing it to be the only way out for him after a lifetime of depression and pain. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station.
Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.
The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.
A terrifying psychological nightmare from a powerful new voice in horror.
Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.
The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.
A terrifying psychological nightmare from a powerful new voice in horror.
139 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2024
191 people are currently reading
16395 people want to read
About the author
Sofia Ajram
5 books225 followersSofia Ajram is a Bram Stoker Award-winning metalsmith, writer and editor of queer and speculative stories. Their debut novella, Coup de Grâce, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction, was named a Best Book of 2024 by Barnes & Noble and Esquire, and was shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards and Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer prize.
They are the Canadian Arts and Fashion Award–winning designer, founder and metalsmith of Sofia Zakia jewelry as well as the editor of Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror. Sofia has given lectures on contemporary horror films at Monstrum Montreal and has had their work published in Nightmare Magazine. He lives in Montreal with his cat Isa.
Find them on Twitter/X, BlueSky, Threads, TikTok, and Instagram @sofiaajram.
They are the Canadian Arts and Fashion Award–winning designer, founder and metalsmith of Sofia Zakia jewelry as well as the editor of Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror. Sofia has given lectures on contemporary horror films at Monstrum Montreal and has had their work published in Nightmare Magazine. He lives in Montreal with his cat Isa.
Find them on Twitter/X, BlueSky, Threads, TikTok, and Instagram @sofiaajram.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 868 reviews
October 1, 2024
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy!
I've never hated a book before. I've read books that I've considered bad. I've read books I've given one star before. I've hated plot points in books, or characters, or writing styles. I have NEVER in my life had an experience like the one I had reading Coup de Grace.
This book is the most overwritten, gimmicky, self-indulgent garbage I have ever read.
I like "weird" books. I like books that are slightly experimental, and I like books that are considered overwritten by others. I enjoy Mona Awad, even though her style is stunningly dense and verbose. I loved reading Chelsea G. Summers, though her character in A Certain Hunger was quite wordy. I'm reading Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride right now, and man she writes a LOT! But this book? Good lord.
I have never seen a writing style that evokes such word salad. It didn't feel stylistic. It read like the author wrote their sentence, and then put every single word through a thesaurus. It was so overwritten that it was genuinely difficult for me to figure out what was happening sometimes. I understand that the confusion and the surrealism is the point, but there were many, many times where I had to wind back several pages to figure out what was happening. It just ruined a lot of the tension that was building.
For example, at one point, someone falls over a railing and onto the concreate below. It was described in such a way that I was certain that person was dead. It was described like they fell into the grand canyon, that's how deep this pit was. However, the next chapter started with that person having a fractured leg and no other mentioned injuries. I was baffled.
The main character, Vicken, is also just so completely unlikable. Vicken hopped onto the subway to take himself to the beach and drown. The "in-between" that he ends up in seems to be a place for people who were considering suicide to be trapped and suffer forever for their choice. It becomes extremely obvious (like seriously the author just straight up spells it out) that this endless, impossible subway station is depression.
Vicker is clinically depressed. I think that in some ways the author does an interesting job expression how depression manifests, and how people who are treatment resistant can become very frustrated. In doing so, the author also categorically dismisses medication and therapy as a whole. I hate that, for obvious reasons.
Vicken meets another person while he's in the tunnels, a woman he calls Pashmina. Pashmina is here because she has practically incurable cancer, a 3% survival chance. She didn't want to wither away slowly and in pain, so she wanted to end things on her own terms. Because of her suicidal intention, she ends up in the hell dimension with Vicken and she has the most visceral, graphic death in the whole story. I'm wondering what the lesson is here? I'm wondering what the author could possibly be trying to say. Why is it better, more compassionate, to make this woman suffer through a painful cancer that is slowly killing her? What did she do to deserve being in the tunnels?
Additionally, Vicken compares his depression to Pashmina's cancer. As someone with depression, oh my GOD! What are you even talking about? I understand the comparison on a surface level. Yes, both can make you feel hopeless, and yes sometimes both are incurable. But, are you kidding me? Comparing depression to CANCER? One of the worst things that could ever happen to a person? The BIG C, CANCER? It's so self-indulgent.
I feel the same way about the depiction of self-harm in Coup de Grace. It's SO self-indulgent. If you have ever self harmed or ever had thoughts of self harming, seriously do not read this book for your own safety. There is an author's note at the beginning of the book that states the book is about suicide, but there are no trigger warnings for the amount and extent of self-harm in the book. It's extremely graphic. It's somewhat understandable within the context of the story and the metaphor, but the whole time I was just struck by how gleeful it felt. Like the author was pissed off and trying to shock and offend others. It was horrible.
This is a cosmic horror novel, and there are some conventions of that genre. We don't learn anything really about the tunnels. We don't learn what creatures are living there, or what they really do to people who get stuck. We don't learn about the people in the elevator, or the room full of beetles, or the flesh tunnel (yes, I said flesh tunnel). This is completely fine, and it's a real staple of cosmic horror. It's something too strange, too big, too impossible to understand, and so the protagonist doesn't understand it. In a way, I think the genre is perfect to explore feelings of depression and hopelessness. I will say that sometimes it felt like the author was throwing anything at the wall to see what stuck.
For example, the aforementioned elevator. After walking for days or weeks or years, Vicken comes across an elevator, and the author explains to us what the Elevator Game is. She explains all the steps and what's supposed to happen at each step, and then Vicken plays the Elevator Game. It's difficult to say "nothing happens" because nothing at all happens in the entire book. There's a layer of metaphor here, and a peek into Vicken's past, but I wouldn't say that it's a creepy or memorable part of the book. There's also a "fake-out" THE END here? Though I don't know if it's a fake out or one of the many ending in this book.
Oh? Did I not mention that there are MANY endings to this book? You cannot imagine my rage when I'm pushing and shoving my way through this dense nightmare of a novel and then it suddenly turns into a choose your own adventure story. I hate that gimmick, first of all, but secondly the author hates you for not choosing the RIGHT path in the choose your own adventure. Seriously, every single storyline except the correct one sees Vicken mocking the reader directly. Oh? You want Vicken to escape the tunnel? He berates you for thinking that's even possible. Oh? You want Vicken to end it all and be in peace? He berates you for "wanting people to be miserable". Oh? You want Vicken to choose? He berates you for putting this on his shoulders. He's such a terrible, nasty, irritating character.
You get to pick your ending. Kind of. There's only one ending that the author actually wanted you to pick, and it's the "a significant other will fix my depression" route. Yes, a person in your life you loves you makes it easier for you to love yourself. I'm just really irritated that the solution to getting out of the tunnels, getting out of your metaphorical depression, is a MAN.
I will say, the gore and horror in this book is pretty good at times. I was engaged when our characters discovered a horrifying part of the tunnel made from the flesh of everyone who had given up. I wanted to read more. Again, Pashmina's death was completely horrifying. Some of the most intense gore I've read outside of the extreme horror genre. There's just so little of it in favor of going on and on about how horrible Vicken is feeling.
I hated this book. I hated it with a fiery passion. I understand the metaphor. I understand the conventions of the genre. I understand that not every book has to have a good main character or a positive moral. But when your book has no plot, bad writing, an annoying character, AND a bad moral there is NOTHING left to enjoy.
Coup de Grace is out today! Don't buy it. Don't waste your money.
I've never hated a book before. I've read books that I've considered bad. I've read books I've given one star before. I've hated plot points in books, or characters, or writing styles. I have NEVER in my life had an experience like the one I had reading Coup de Grace.
This book is the most overwritten, gimmicky, self-indulgent garbage I have ever read.
I like "weird" books. I like books that are slightly experimental, and I like books that are considered overwritten by others. I enjoy Mona Awad, even though her style is stunningly dense and verbose. I loved reading Chelsea G. Summers, though her character in A Certain Hunger was quite wordy. I'm reading Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride right now, and man she writes a LOT! But this book? Good lord.
I have never seen a writing style that evokes such word salad. It didn't feel stylistic. It read like the author wrote their sentence, and then put every single word through a thesaurus. It was so overwritten that it was genuinely difficult for me to figure out what was happening sometimes. I understand that the confusion and the surrealism is the point, but there were many, many times where I had to wind back several pages to figure out what was happening. It just ruined a lot of the tension that was building.
For example, at one point, someone falls over a railing and onto the concreate below. It was described in such a way that I was certain that person was dead. It was described like they fell into the grand canyon, that's how deep this pit was. However, the next chapter started with that person having a fractured leg and no other mentioned injuries. I was baffled.
The main character, Vicken, is also just so completely unlikable. Vicken hopped onto the subway to take himself to the beach and drown. The "in-between" that he ends up in seems to be a place for people who were considering suicide to be trapped and suffer forever for their choice. It becomes extremely obvious (like seriously the author just straight up spells it out) that this endless, impossible subway station is depression.
Vicker is clinically depressed. I think that in some ways the author does an interesting job expression how depression manifests, and how people who are treatment resistant can become very frustrated. In doing so, the author also categorically dismisses medication and therapy as a whole. I hate that, for obvious reasons.
Vicken meets another person while he's in the tunnels, a woman he calls Pashmina. Pashmina is here because she has practically incurable cancer, a 3% survival chance. She didn't want to wither away slowly and in pain, so she wanted to end things on her own terms. Because of her suicidal intention, she ends up in the hell dimension with Vicken and she has the most visceral, graphic death in the whole story. I'm wondering what the lesson is here? I'm wondering what the author could possibly be trying to say. Why is it better, more compassionate, to make this woman suffer through a painful cancer that is slowly killing her? What did she do to deserve being in the tunnels?
Additionally, Vicken compares his depression to Pashmina's cancer. As someone with depression, oh my GOD! What are you even talking about? I understand the comparison on a surface level. Yes, both can make you feel hopeless, and yes sometimes both are incurable. But, are you kidding me? Comparing depression to CANCER? One of the worst things that could ever happen to a person? The BIG C, CANCER? It's so self-indulgent.
I feel the same way about the depiction of self-harm in Coup de Grace. It's SO self-indulgent. If you have ever self harmed or ever had thoughts of self harming, seriously do not read this book for your own safety. There is an author's note at the beginning of the book that states the book is about suicide, but there are no trigger warnings for the amount and extent of self-harm in the book. It's extremely graphic. It's somewhat understandable within the context of the story and the metaphor, but the whole time I was just struck by how gleeful it felt. Like the author was pissed off and trying to shock and offend others. It was horrible.
This is a cosmic horror novel, and there are some conventions of that genre. We don't learn anything really about the tunnels. We don't learn what creatures are living there, or what they really do to people who get stuck. We don't learn about the people in the elevator, or the room full of beetles, or the flesh tunnel (yes, I said flesh tunnel). This is completely fine, and it's a real staple of cosmic horror. It's something too strange, too big, too impossible to understand, and so the protagonist doesn't understand it. In a way, I think the genre is perfect to explore feelings of depression and hopelessness. I will say that sometimes it felt like the author was throwing anything at the wall to see what stuck.
For example, the aforementioned elevator. After walking for days or weeks or years, Vicken comes across an elevator, and the author explains to us what the Elevator Game is. She explains all the steps and what's supposed to happen at each step, and then Vicken plays the Elevator Game. It's difficult to say "nothing happens" because nothing at all happens in the entire book. There's a layer of metaphor here, and a peek into Vicken's past, but I wouldn't say that it's a creepy or memorable part of the book. There's also a "fake-out" THE END here? Though I don't know if it's a fake out or one of the many ending in this book.
Oh? Did I not mention that there are MANY endings to this book? You cannot imagine my rage when I'm pushing and shoving my way through this dense nightmare of a novel and then it suddenly turns into a choose your own adventure story. I hate that gimmick, first of all, but secondly the author hates you for not choosing the RIGHT path in the choose your own adventure. Seriously, every single storyline except the correct one sees Vicken mocking the reader directly. Oh? You want Vicken to escape the tunnel? He berates you for thinking that's even possible. Oh? You want Vicken to end it all and be in peace? He berates you for "wanting people to be miserable". Oh? You want Vicken to choose? He berates you for putting this on his shoulders. He's such a terrible, nasty, irritating character.
You get to pick your ending. Kind of. There's only one ending that the author actually wanted you to pick, and it's the "a significant other will fix my depression" route. Yes, a person in your life you loves you makes it easier for you to love yourself. I'm just really irritated that the solution to getting out of the tunnels, getting out of your metaphorical depression, is a MAN.
I will say, the gore and horror in this book is pretty good at times. I was engaged when our characters discovered a horrifying part of the tunnel made from the flesh of everyone who had given up. I wanted to read more. Again, Pashmina's death was completely horrifying. Some of the most intense gore I've read outside of the extreme horror genre. There's just so little of it in favor of going on and on about how horrible Vicken is feeling.
I hated this book. I hated it with a fiery passion. I understand the metaphor. I understand the conventions of the genre. I understand that not every book has to have a good main character or a positive moral. But when your book has no plot, bad writing, an annoying character, AND a bad moral there is NOTHING left to enjoy.
Coup de Grace is out today! Don't buy it. Don't waste your money.
February 2, 2025
deeply and devastating relatable for many, good messaging, an interesting gimmick. I just couldn't get on board with what this book was doing, and the writing style/language was not for me (nor fit the intended narrative voice properly imo.)
October 1, 2024
Vicken, a depressed and lonely EMT working in Montreal, is traveling to the St. Lawrence River via subway train to stuff his pockets with rocks and end his misery once and for all. He never manages to make it to his stop and finds himself trapped in a strange underground that seems as inescapable as his personal despair.
What this novella is, is a very minimal story with lots and lots of florid language to prop it up and puff it out, like a bloated corpse adrift on a raft of superfluous words (I guess it's infectious, eek!). Take the following example:
"Their essence starts to fade and at once explodes in a fit of fury into a thousand shards, wriggles and broils, effervescing into something larger and more complex; impaling slats of light, a howl of fluorescence through darkness no longer shrouded in emptiness, but gestating, somehow into an empty room; room; rooms, multiplying like cells; mapping the interior void from which we later arise."
I could close my eyes, flick through to any page on my e-reader, point, and hit a fragment like this. If you like the sound of this example, then Coup De Grâce may very well work for you.
The author also displays a penchant for alliteration and a handy thesaurus with words like caliginous, prodrome and feculent thrown around willy-nilly, perhaps in an effort to throw the reader more off course? I'm not really sure. Other things that seem thrown in at random just to provide more padding to the story include arbitrary breaking of the fourth wall and the viral Cecil Hotel elevator footage of Elisa Lam.
On the positive side, there is some gross body horror and some insightful passages and statements (that the author immediately ruins dead-horse style in subsequent sentences), and while I found the ending sort of annoying, there was also a part of me that appreciated its novelty. But like a scarf worn by a character that is described as "baroque and threadbare," such is this novella. To be entirely honest, I would have dnf'd this if I hadn't felt obligated to submit a review to NetGalley.
In any case, thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for a digital advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Coup de Grâce will be published on October 1, 2024.
What this novella is, is a very minimal story with lots and lots of florid language to prop it up and puff it out, like a bloated corpse adrift on a raft of superfluous words (I guess it's infectious, eek!). Take the following example:
"Their essence starts to fade and at once explodes in a fit of fury into a thousand shards, wriggles and broils, effervescing into something larger and more complex; impaling slats of light, a howl of fluorescence through darkness no longer shrouded in emptiness, but gestating, somehow into an empty room; room; rooms, multiplying like cells; mapping the interior void from which we later arise."
I could close my eyes, flick through to any page on my e-reader, point, and hit a fragment like this. If you like the sound of this example, then Coup De Grâce may very well work for you.
The author also displays a penchant for alliteration and a handy thesaurus with words like caliginous, prodrome and feculent thrown around willy-nilly, perhaps in an effort to throw the reader more off course? I'm not really sure. Other things that seem thrown in at random just to provide more padding to the story include arbitrary breaking of the fourth wall and the viral Cecil Hotel elevator footage of Elisa Lam.
On the positive side, there is some gross body horror and some insightful passages and statements (that the author immediately ruins dead-horse style in subsequent sentences), and while I found the ending sort of annoying, there was also a part of me that appreciated its novelty. But like a scarf worn by a character that is described as "baroque and threadbare," such is this novella. To be entirely honest, I would have dnf'd this if I hadn't felt obligated to submit a review to NetGalley.
In any case, thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for a digital advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Coup de Grâce will be published on October 1, 2024.
October 9, 2024
4.5 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/RdthP9SPEjE
This was such a deceptively lovely, horrific little horror novel. First the writing has a beautiful literary quality that made the entire short work a joy to read for anyone who appreciates good prose. As someone who loves Montreal, I enjoyed the initial references to that beautiful series.
Second, this book is wonderfully psychological which is so hard to pull off. The subway tunnels truly felt suffocating. The story starts off so subtle I assume it wasn't actually going to hit those creepy moments, but the story delivered some truly horrific moments that have stuck in my brain.
The marketing for this book compares it to House of Leaves which I feel is an unfair comparison. I sort of understand why it was done but it will undoubtedly lead readers to be disappointed. This book is fantastic but the narrative is quite different from that beloved book.
I adored the ending section of this novel that both messed with my brain and made me laugh in surprise. I'll let you discover that part for yourself. I also really appreciated the thoughtful exploration of mental health and trauma written into this narrative.
I would highly recommend this novel to any horror readers looking for a punchy literary story.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Video Review https://youtu.be/RdthP9SPEjE
This was such a deceptively lovely, horrific little horror novel. First the writing has a beautiful literary quality that made the entire short work a joy to read for anyone who appreciates good prose. As someone who loves Montreal, I enjoyed the initial references to that beautiful series.
Second, this book is wonderfully psychological which is so hard to pull off. The subway tunnels truly felt suffocating. The story starts off so subtle I assume it wasn't actually going to hit those creepy moments, but the story delivered some truly horrific moments that have stuck in my brain.
The marketing for this book compares it to House of Leaves which I feel is an unfair comparison. I sort of understand why it was done but it will undoubtedly lead readers to be disappointed. This book is fantastic but the narrative is quite different from that beloved book.
I adored the ending section of this novel that both messed with my brain and made me laugh in surprise. I'll let you discover that part for yourself. I also really appreciated the thoughtful exploration of mental health and trauma written into this narrative.
I would highly recommend this novel to any horror readers looking for a punchy literary story.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
October 1, 2024
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
“No Exit” meets “House of Leaves”
Vicken boards a train, determined to commit suicide. Depressed and suicidal, he is determined to end his life. After having a sexual encounter with another male passenger, he arrives at the end of the train route. But after disembarking the train, he cannot find a way off the platform. Stuck in an endless maze, Vicken slowly loses his mind and grip on reality. Where is he? Will he ever escape? Is he alive or dead?
Sofia Ajram is a fantastic new voice in the horror genre. Her mind-bending debut novella explores the slow destruction of personhood through a grotesque, claustrophobic, and uncomfortable psychological nightmare. Vicken’s fever dream makes the reader feel uneasy as he slowly succumbs to necrosis through bleak, monstrous imagery and hallucinatory terror. It deals with body horror, suicidal ideation, and invokes a constant existential dread. Through Vicken’s sarcastic narration, we are given a choice as a reader to interpret the ending in many different ways.
One final thought: The title Coupe de Grace translates to “A final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal.” Therefore, this narrative represents Vicken’s final moments. The dark and depressing plot might be triggering, so please read the warnings carefully.
Trigger warnings: suicidal ideation, cutting, suicide, depression, claustrophobia
4/5 stars
Expected publication date: 10/1/24
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC of Coup de Grace in exchange for an honest review.
“No Exit” meets “House of Leaves”
Vicken boards a train, determined to commit suicide. Depressed and suicidal, he is determined to end his life. After having a sexual encounter with another male passenger, he arrives at the end of the train route. But after disembarking the train, he cannot find a way off the platform. Stuck in an endless maze, Vicken slowly loses his mind and grip on reality. Where is he? Will he ever escape? Is he alive or dead?
Sofia Ajram is a fantastic new voice in the horror genre. Her mind-bending debut novella explores the slow destruction of personhood through a grotesque, claustrophobic, and uncomfortable psychological nightmare. Vicken’s fever dream makes the reader feel uneasy as he slowly succumbs to necrosis through bleak, monstrous imagery and hallucinatory terror. It deals with body horror, suicidal ideation, and invokes a constant existential dread. Through Vicken’s sarcastic narration, we are given a choice as a reader to interpret the ending in many different ways.
One final thought: The title Coupe de Grace translates to “A final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal.” Therefore, this narrative represents Vicken’s final moments. The dark and depressing plot might be triggering, so please read the warnings carefully.
Trigger warnings: suicidal ideation, cutting, suicide, depression, claustrophobia
4/5 stars
Expected publication date: 10/1/24
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC of Coup de Grace in exchange for an honest review.
June 24, 2024
The book blurb:
Vicken decides he is done with his time on earth, and he's on the subway when he finally decides it. But when he exits the train, he finds himself in a labyrinthine never-ending series of tunnels, rooms, escalators, atriums and cathedrals. Grey cement is almost all Vicken sees, day after day after day. But Vicken himself is changing and it feels like he's running out of time. Is there something in the tunnel system? Will Vicken ever escape? You'll have to read this to find out!
Coup de Grace is an experimental work for sure. The story itself is heartbreaking but Vicken's travels throughout this novella were interesting because of what was going on in his head at the time. Vicken deals with some mental health issues and this was where the story lived. Add to that the folly of a man trying to escape because.....why? He was going to kill himself anyway, right? Towards the end of this tale the reader actually becomes involved in the narrative and that's a twist I've rarely seen in horror.
To inject a personal note, (as every reader brings their own experiences to the table), this story hit close to home. My husband and I have traveled to Montreal a few times. The last time we went, we took the subway to an island amusement park full of roller coasters. On the first one we tried, my husband's eyeglasses flew off his face and were never seen again. We decided to leave early to see if there was a Lenscrafter's nearby. In Montreal, there are several miles of underground subway and malls, but because the stores were closed, (turned out to be a Canadian holiday of some sort), we had a terrible time trying to find our way out of there. This experience contributed to my enjoyment of this story, because it was simple for me to imagine that day and our rising panic at not being able to find our way out.
Coup de Grace brings us into the mind of a struggling young man. Were his travels through the darkened halls symbolic of what was going on his head? I'm not sure. But I am sure that I cared for him, and that I hoped he would find his way and reconsider his decision. That, in the end, was what affected my decision. What am I talking about? You'll have to read it and see for yourself.
This fever dream of a novella was an impressive debut and I cannot wait to see what the author does next!
Highly recommended!
*ARC from publisher.*
A mindbending and visceral experimental horror about a young man trapped in an infinite Montreal subway station, perfect for readers of Mark Z. Danielewski and Susanna Clarke.
Vicken decides he is done with his time on earth, and he's on the subway when he finally decides it. But when he exits the train, he finds himself in a labyrinthine never-ending series of tunnels, rooms, escalators, atriums and cathedrals. Grey cement is almost all Vicken sees, day after day after day. But Vicken himself is changing and it feels like he's running out of time. Is there something in the tunnel system? Will Vicken ever escape? You'll have to read this to find out!
Coup de Grace is an experimental work for sure. The story itself is heartbreaking but Vicken's travels throughout this novella were interesting because of what was going on in his head at the time. Vicken deals with some mental health issues and this was where the story lived. Add to that the folly of a man trying to escape because.....why? He was going to kill himself anyway, right? Towards the end of this tale the reader actually becomes involved in the narrative and that's a twist I've rarely seen in horror.
To inject a personal note, (as every reader brings their own experiences to the table), this story hit close to home. My husband and I have traveled to Montreal a few times. The last time we went, we took the subway to an island amusement park full of roller coasters. On the first one we tried, my husband's eyeglasses flew off his face and were never seen again. We decided to leave early to see if there was a Lenscrafter's nearby. In Montreal, there are several miles of underground subway and malls, but because the stores were closed, (turned out to be a Canadian holiday of some sort), we had a terrible time trying to find our way out of there. This experience contributed to my enjoyment of this story, because it was simple for me to imagine that day and our rising panic at not being able to find our way out.
Coup de Grace brings us into the mind of a struggling young man. Were his travels through the darkened halls symbolic of what was going on his head? I'm not sure. But I am sure that I cared for him, and that I hoped he would find his way and reconsider his decision. That, in the end, was what affected my decision. What am I talking about? You'll have to read it and see for yourself.
This fever dream of a novella was an impressive debut and I cannot wait to see what the author does next!
Highly recommended!
*ARC from publisher.*
January 11, 2025
Full disclosure: I'm friends with the author. That said, anyone who knows me knows I'm not nice enough to say things I don't believe about a book I didn't love.
Coup de Grâce almost lost me at the start with its chirpy, acerbic narrative voice. Thank God I kept reading long enough to figure out what Ajram was doing, to watch them peel the rotting onion of a human personality succumbing to necrosis while still alive. As a lifelong lover of Brutalist architecture there's so much to savor here on an aesthetic level, with descriptions that feel like some unholy cross between House of Leaves (I'm sure people will compare the two books ad infinitum; all I'll say is that Ajram has no need of metafictional conceits) and the blurry, monolithic deathscapes of early console shooters, a labyrinth of alien, impersonal concrete that subsumes and denatures everything it touches, but it's in its depictions of the slow destruction of the artifice of personhood as a bulwark against chronic suicidality that Coup de Grâce really shines. This is something special, a stone-cold feel-bad son of a bitch of a book.
Coup de Grâce almost lost me at the start with its chirpy, acerbic narrative voice. Thank God I kept reading long enough to figure out what Ajram was doing, to watch them peel the rotting onion of a human personality succumbing to necrosis while still alive. As a lifelong lover of Brutalist architecture there's so much to savor here on an aesthetic level, with descriptions that feel like some unholy cross between House of Leaves (I'm sure people will compare the two books ad infinitum; all I'll say is that Ajram has no need of metafictional conceits) and the blurry, monolithic deathscapes of early console shooters, a labyrinth of alien, impersonal concrete that subsumes and denatures everything it touches, but it's in its depictions of the slow destruction of the artifice of personhood as a bulwark against chronic suicidality that Coup de Grâce really shines. This is something special, a stone-cold feel-bad son of a bitch of a book.
September 28, 2024
It’s official.. this is the most WTF 😳 did I just read book ever! 😳🤯Until now I Am Thinking Of Ending Things held that title… but guys.. We have a new winner! 😳🤯 Thank you @titanbooks for my gorgeous gifted copy! 🥰
Pub date is October 1st🥳
This book is dark, disturbing.. terrifying and brilliant. When Vicken steps off the subway with a plan… something very strange happens…🤔… He is caught in a never ending loop. That’s right.. he is alone… ALL ALONE… or so he thinks.😳… Where are the people from the subway? Why is every corridor looking the same?? What the hell is going on?? I found myself asking this the ENTIRE book. 🤔
Have you ever been so anxiety ridden that your thoughts are muddled.. you feel a kind of a out of body experience… trouble focusing… this is what our Vicken is feeling. In turn we are feeling it too when we are in his thoughts… Down a depressing hole of hell Vicken is circling.. and then something very clever the author did.. made me smile and say… OMG how clever is this?? 👏👏 At just under 150 pages you can read this in one sitting. 😉
I never give out Trigger Warnings but I feel like I should in this case. Suicide, Depression and Anxiety. A clever little horror book that packs a powerful punch 🥊 and literally will leave you mind fuc@&@ 😳🤯
🖤🖤🖤 Do you like to read horror? What is the biggest WTF did I read book for you? Is this on your TBR?
Pub date is October 1st🥳
This book is dark, disturbing.. terrifying and brilliant. When Vicken steps off the subway with a plan… something very strange happens…🤔… He is caught in a never ending loop. That’s right.. he is alone… ALL ALONE… or so he thinks.😳… Where are the people from the subway? Why is every corridor looking the same?? What the hell is going on?? I found myself asking this the ENTIRE book. 🤔
Have you ever been so anxiety ridden that your thoughts are muddled.. you feel a kind of a out of body experience… trouble focusing… this is what our Vicken is feeling. In turn we are feeling it too when we are in his thoughts… Down a depressing hole of hell Vicken is circling.. and then something very clever the author did.. made me smile and say… OMG how clever is this?? 👏👏 At just under 150 pages you can read this in one sitting. 😉
I never give out Trigger Warnings but I feel like I should in this case. Suicide, Depression and Anxiety. A clever little horror book that packs a powerful punch 🥊 and literally will leave you mind fuc@&@ 😳🤯
🖤🖤🖤 Do you like to read horror? What is the biggest WTF did I read book for you? Is this on your TBR?
October 23, 2024
I reached a point, only about a quarter of the way through this novella’s 130 pages, where I began to wonder if Sofia Ajram didn’t actually exist and the book had been written by AI; if Titan Books, having published a few decent authors and a few more terrible ones, hadn’t decided to troll the horror-reading public. Surely, I thought, surely nobody who writes this badly - tautologies all over the place and words egregiously misused (Ajram’s choice of “facet” as a synonym for a geometric angle, and “oneiric” for nocturnal, suggest a heavy authorial leaning into the thesaurus, searching for more interesting words than those that would have served the writing perfectly adequately) - could land a publishing deal; surely no editor would have let so many howlers slip past. And I’m not talking about the occasional howler; there are many pages where every single sentence cries out for editorial intervention.
Here’s just one paragraph by way of example. The context: the narrator, suicidal, has found himself trapped in a weirdly deserted underground station; the deeper into it he ventures, the more unreal it seems.
“It is insurmountably large, a gargantuan organ that possesses the verticality of a tower. Every bit of it seems made of concrete, that subtle wash of slate-grey, dark and sovereign. There are snapshots of other material, the cut of stainless steel bannisters, gently wafting empty escalators sweeping up three stories past the point of converging lines telescoping in on themselves before disappearing; acrylic sheets covering tiled ads for a Thai food restaurant: two bobble-headed faces with chattering marionette teeth and too-white eyes girdling an Oktoberfest special, their faces not quite right, as though processed ineffectively by some artificial mechanism. There is a row of eight SMT-branded turnstiles and an empty control kiosk emanating a jaundiced bioluminescence. The light of it is a place once visited - in a dream, as a child. To me, it is wildly disorienting.”
I read this section aloud to my wife, who absolutely nailed the problem: “I’ve lost the sense of what she’s writing about.” Precisely. The paragraph is filled with verbiage, most of it meaningless: “… gently wafting escalators …”? “…converging lines telescoping in on themselves …”? Such phrases communicate nothing; instead, they either hold up the flow of the narrative or cancel themselves out. This is sixth-form writing, the work of someone who has recently come across words like “gargantuan”, “verticality”, “jaundiced” and “bioluminescence” and is dementedly enthusiastic about using them all in the same paragraph.
I had a crack at rewriting it, setting myself one rule: retain the imagery and the context. Here’s what I came up with:
“The section I find myself in is impossibly large, more like a tower than part of an underground station. The interior walls are the dull grey of decades-worn concrete. Stainless steel bannisters gleam coldly. Empty escalators ascend through three storeys - maybe more. It’s hard to tell. The geometry folds in on itself; becomes confusing. I notice adverts for a Thai restaurant, but the faces in them seem distorted. Ahead of me, there’s a row of turnstiles and an unmanned control kiosk, jaundiced light spilling from it.”
You could make it even tighter if you wanted. In fact, written in the staccato, telegraphic style of, say, James Ellroy, ‘Coup de Grâce’ could have been a classic of the genre: white-knuckle, claustrophobic and genuinely terrifying.
Or could it? There’s a humdrum sequence centred around the urban myth of the Elevator Game that seems to have wandered in from another project (or perhaps it was a nascent short story?), the only conceivable purpose of which can be to pad out the page count. On the plus side, this bit of business is balanced by a surprisingly effective closing scene which makes some salient points about depression and suicide. And yet how does Ajram make the link from the elevator sequence to this emotive payoff? By turning the novella into a “choose your own adventure” story. That’s how crassly ‘Coup de Grâce’ delivers the reader to its most serious moments.
Here’s just one paragraph by way of example. The context: the narrator, suicidal, has found himself trapped in a weirdly deserted underground station; the deeper into it he ventures, the more unreal it seems.
“It is insurmountably large, a gargantuan organ that possesses the verticality of a tower. Every bit of it seems made of concrete, that subtle wash of slate-grey, dark and sovereign. There are snapshots of other material, the cut of stainless steel bannisters, gently wafting empty escalators sweeping up three stories past the point of converging lines telescoping in on themselves before disappearing; acrylic sheets covering tiled ads for a Thai food restaurant: two bobble-headed faces with chattering marionette teeth and too-white eyes girdling an Oktoberfest special, their faces not quite right, as though processed ineffectively by some artificial mechanism. There is a row of eight SMT-branded turnstiles and an empty control kiosk emanating a jaundiced bioluminescence. The light of it is a place once visited - in a dream, as a child. To me, it is wildly disorienting.”
I read this section aloud to my wife, who absolutely nailed the problem: “I’ve lost the sense of what she’s writing about.” Precisely. The paragraph is filled with verbiage, most of it meaningless: “… gently wafting escalators …”? “…converging lines telescoping in on themselves …”? Such phrases communicate nothing; instead, they either hold up the flow of the narrative or cancel themselves out. This is sixth-form writing, the work of someone who has recently come across words like “gargantuan”, “verticality”, “jaundiced” and “bioluminescence” and is dementedly enthusiastic about using them all in the same paragraph.
I had a crack at rewriting it, setting myself one rule: retain the imagery and the context. Here’s what I came up with:
“The section I find myself in is impossibly large, more like a tower than part of an underground station. The interior walls are the dull grey of decades-worn concrete. Stainless steel bannisters gleam coldly. Empty escalators ascend through three storeys - maybe more. It’s hard to tell. The geometry folds in on itself; becomes confusing. I notice adverts for a Thai restaurant, but the faces in them seem distorted. Ahead of me, there’s a row of turnstiles and an unmanned control kiosk, jaundiced light spilling from it.”
You could make it even tighter if you wanted. In fact, written in the staccato, telegraphic style of, say, James Ellroy, ‘Coup de Grâce’ could have been a classic of the genre: white-knuckle, claustrophobic and genuinely terrifying.
Or could it? There’s a humdrum sequence centred around the urban myth of the Elevator Game that seems to have wandered in from another project (or perhaps it was a nascent short story?), the only conceivable purpose of which can be to pad out the page count. On the plus side, this bit of business is balanced by a surprisingly effective closing scene which makes some salient points about depression and suicide. And yet how does Ajram make the link from the elevator sequence to this emotive payoff? By turning the novella into a “choose your own adventure” story. That’s how crassly ‘Coup de Grâce’ delivers the reader to its most serious moments.
October 27, 2024
although confusing, this author's writing is PHENOMENAL. I wrote down SO many quotes from this short little thing. It's bleak, it's raw, it's honest, & I loved it, despite being just as lost as the main character felt lol. also, I definitely read every page/ending in the choose your own adventure portion 'cause the completionist in me couldn't resist.
TW: self-harm, suicide, drug abuse, depression, anxiety, grief
TW: self-harm, suicide, drug abuse, depression, anxiety, grief
August 15, 2024
ARC for review. To be published October 1, 2024.
Hello. I am a story. Please call me HOUSE OF LEAVES, Junior. Please? Pretty please?
Depressed and in turmoil Vicken is ready to end it all and is planning to throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal. He takes the subway toward the point of his departure…only when he disembarks he finds himself in an endless, looping, silent station.
So, OK, the metaphor is pretty handed (the words “transitional environment” are actually used in the text. We got it. Really. I swear.), but I actually quite liked this until it became a choose-your-own-adventure at the end, which stripped the whole thing of any gravitas. One nice line I liked, “I think there are moments in life that are so memorable to me because of their impact, only to find later that they were forgotten by others almost immediately.”
Would have had a higher rating but for the end.
Hello. I am a story. Please call me HOUSE OF LEAVES, Junior. Please? Pretty please?
Depressed and in turmoil Vicken is ready to end it all and is planning to throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal. He takes the subway toward the point of his departure…only when he disembarks he finds himself in an endless, looping, silent station.
So, OK, the metaphor is pretty handed (the words “transitional environment” are actually used in the text. We got it. Really. I swear.), but I actually quite liked this until it became a choose-your-own-adventure at the end, which stripped the whole thing of any gravitas. One nice line I liked, “I think there are moments in life that are so memorable to me because of their impact, only to find later that they were forgotten by others almost immediately.”
Would have had a higher rating but for the end.
April 18, 2025
1.5
I've never disliked a writing style more
I've never disliked a writing style more
December 2, 2024
TW/CW: Language, anxiety, depression, suicide, cancer, cutting, toxic family relationships
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Vicken has a plan: throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal and end it all for good, believing it to be the only way out for him after a lifetime of depression and pain. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station.Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.
Release Date: October 1st, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 139
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Love the book cover
2. Liked the writing style
3. Short chapters
What I Didn't Like:
1. Author rambled at certain points
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
"Nobody can save anybody"
Personally I would not go down this tunnel that is so small you have to push yourself through and also has a really bad smell. Why would you go to the area that stinks? This part made me feel very claustrophobic.
Did you know that Pashmina smells like piss and shit? I mean it's only mentioned more times than I care to count.
Didn't Like that the end of the book turns into a choose your own adventure type book. Took a weird turn. I just kept reading straight through.
Final Thoughts:
This book felt like a mesh up of so many other books and movies.
So many fantastic quotes in this book and I can't wait to buy it. I'm blown away by the writing style that the author has presented us. Absolutely stunning.
I think this is a book that's very difficult to put into words. Dealing with depression isn't as simple as snapping out of it but it's a real thing. The author does a great job at describing how gut wrenching it is to your soul and your body when dealing with just wanting to end it. This is a book for people who know that feeling or people who know people who have fought in that battle.
I'm blown away with how beautiful and enchanting this book was when dealing with the hopeless feelings our character feels. Some parts of the book creeped me out too.
IG | Blog
*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Vicken has a plan: throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal and end it all for good, believing it to be the only way out for him after a lifetime of depression and pain. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station.Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.
Release Date: October 1st, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 139
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I Liked:
1. Love the book cover
2. Liked the writing style
3. Short chapters
What I Didn't Like:
1. Author rambled at certain points
Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}
"Nobody can save anybody"
Personally I would not go down this tunnel that is so small you have to push yourself through and also has a really bad smell. Why would you go to the area that stinks? This part made me feel very claustrophobic.
Did you know that Pashmina smells like piss and shit? I mean it's only mentioned more times than I care to count.
Didn't Like that the end of the book turns into a choose your own adventure type book. Took a weird turn. I just kept reading straight through.
Final Thoughts:
This book felt like a mesh up of so many other books and movies.
So many fantastic quotes in this book and I can't wait to buy it. I'm blown away by the writing style that the author has presented us. Absolutely stunning.
I think this is a book that's very difficult to put into words. Dealing with depression isn't as simple as snapping out of it but it's a real thing. The author does a great job at describing how gut wrenching it is to your soul and your body when dealing with just wanting to end it. This is a book for people who know that feeling or people who know people who have fought in that battle.
I'm blown away with how beautiful and enchanting this book was when dealing with the hopeless feelings our character feels. Some parts of the book creeped me out too.
IG | Blog
December 21, 2023
A visceral, hallucinatory meditation on illness, mental and otherwise. I haven’t read something with this much resonation since Dazai’s No Longer Human. Coup de Grâce is a bleak, philosophical look into what it means to be alive, for better or worse, where the only thing scarier than mangled monstrosities is the inexplicable world one is forced to roam simply by breathing. We’re all waiting on a train. Some smile on the benches. Some cry on the tracks.
—Scott J. Moses, author of Our Own Unique Affliction
—Scott J. Moses, author of Our Own Unique Affliction
June 14, 2024
I am so grateful to Titan Books for sending me an ARC because this was one of my most anticipated horror reads of the year - and it did not disappoint! This book is very trippy and weird and unlike anything I’ve read before. The first 60 pages or so are extremely claustrophobic and unnerving. The pages are filled with dread as our character navigates through these dark and damp rooms in a seemingly endless subway underground. Some of the scenes were really haunting and disturbing.
As our character continues on his journey it almost felt like you were following him deeper into his depression spiral. A lot of it didn’t make sense, but then there were passages related to his depression that made perfect sense to me. I’ve had similar thoughts as our character and could relate to many of his feelings.
This book won’t be for everyone, but if you like experimental/existential/mindbending horror you will enjoy this one. Make sure to check TW on depression/self harm, etc.
As our character continues on his journey it almost felt like you were following him deeper into his depression spiral. A lot of it didn’t make sense, but then there were passages related to his depression that made perfect sense to me. I’ve had similar thoughts as our character and could relate to many of his feelings.
This book won’t be for everyone, but if you like experimental/existential/mindbending horror you will enjoy this one. Make sure to check TW on depression/self harm, etc.
October 15, 2024
Thank you so much for reading. Some very thoughtful reviews are in—I hope you will explore them shared below:
"Coup de Grace does not shy from centering itself around horror and the despair of suicidality. From the book’s summary, you’re prepared to read about the labyrinthine, brutalist nightmare of the maze Vicken is trapped in. You are prepared to understand it as a supernatural metaphor for depression and anxiety. What blindsides you is the excruciating intimacy of the narrative, and the way it lovingly peels away your defenses and makes you greet the darkest version of yourself. The way it requires an act of condemnation or salvation from its reader at its close—towards Vicken, and, consequently, towards the self." — F(r)ictionLit — A Review of Coup de Grâce (words by Ari Iscariot) (Contains spoilers)
"Equally haunting and heartbreaking, this complex meditation on belonging announces an exciting new voice in experimental horror." — Publishers Weekly, ⭐ STARRED Review
"Ajram’s unforgettable novella lives up to its provocative title, delivering a gripping story that is as brutal as it is beautiful." — Booklist, ⭐ STARRED Review
"Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram is a harrowing, introspective, kaleidoscopic descent into the dark tunnels of the human psyche. This novella may be compact in size but looms large in concept (Ajram has frazzled my brain in a single sitting). It’s claustrophobic, unnerving, existential, brutal but achingly beautiful, wholly original, absurdly funny, and above all, fucking devastating. I appreciate that’s a lot of adjectives, but they’re ALL warranted. It’s Kafka meets Lynch meets Dante, all mashed together in the depths of the Montreal Metro, and I can’t stop thinking about it." — George Dunn, FanFiAddict
"Coup de Grâce completely reconfigures the adage that "the only way out is through" by portraying the human spirit amidst the battle of getting through, proving that it is not always the endgame, but a step on a continuous journey to decolonize the mind and heart." — Violet James McMaster
"Ajram has crafted something special with Coup de Grâce, a piece of art that demands feeling, demands humanity when there is none to be found."> — Anna Dupre, FanFiAddict
"Coup de Grace does not shy from centering itself around horror and the despair of suicidality. From the book’s summary, you’re prepared to read about the labyrinthine, brutalist nightmare of the maze Vicken is trapped in. You are prepared to understand it as a supernatural metaphor for depression and anxiety. What blindsides you is the excruciating intimacy of the narrative, and the way it lovingly peels away your defenses and makes you greet the darkest version of yourself. The way it requires an act of condemnation or salvation from its reader at its close—towards Vicken, and, consequently, towards the self." — F(r)ictionLit — A Review of Coup de Grâce (words by Ari Iscariot) (Contains spoilers)
"Equally haunting and heartbreaking, this complex meditation on belonging announces an exciting new voice in experimental horror." — Publishers Weekly, ⭐ STARRED Review
"Ajram’s unforgettable novella lives up to its provocative title, delivering a gripping story that is as brutal as it is beautiful." — Booklist, ⭐ STARRED Review
"Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram is a harrowing, introspective, kaleidoscopic descent into the dark tunnels of the human psyche. This novella may be compact in size but looms large in concept (Ajram has frazzled my brain in a single sitting). It’s claustrophobic, unnerving, existential, brutal but achingly beautiful, wholly original, absurdly funny, and above all, fucking devastating. I appreciate that’s a lot of adjectives, but they’re ALL warranted. It’s Kafka meets Lynch meets Dante, all mashed together in the depths of the Montreal Metro, and I can’t stop thinking about it." — George Dunn, FanFiAddict
"Coup de Grâce completely reconfigures the adage that "the only way out is through" by portraying the human spirit amidst the battle of getting through, proving that it is not always the endgame, but a step on a continuous journey to decolonize the mind and heart." — Violet James McMaster
"Ajram has crafted something special with Coup de Grâce, a piece of art that demands feeling, demands humanity when there is none to be found."> — Anna Dupre, FanFiAddict
August 13, 2025
Coup de Grace introduces us to Vicken in the hours before he plans to end his life by throwing himself into the Saint Lawrence River near his home.
While on the subway that day, he ends up having an intimate encounter with another passenger. Afterwards, through Vicken's thoughts, we see maybe his plan isn't as solidified as he once believed. Maybe there is hope for him yet.
He ends up riding the subway to the end of the line and when he steps off, he finds himself in an empty, unfamiliar part of the station. Though he searches and searches, he's unable to find his way out, or even back to where he started.
We follow along as he explores this new concrete prison, trying to make sense of how and why this is happening.
Let me be clear, this isn't a fun read. I was fascinated by the concept and wanted to see how Ajram translated it to the page. It is compelling in a very morose sort of way, but considering the topics explored, that shouldn't be surprising.
I appreciate so much the beautiful writing, and the way that Ajram put to words the thoughts and feelings of someone battling depression in such a believable way. I'm sure a lot of Readers will be able to connect with the visceral feel of that.
I did love the unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere, as well and the depiction of being trapped in a stark, grey, barren concrete labyrinth. It got under my skin.
I found the symbolism of that, it kept describing the grey of the concrete and made me think, you know, what is the brain, but grey matter. Here we had an individual held captive by their brain and this concrete prison, essentially, was the perfect representation of that.
While I can appreciate how much work and thought went into this novella, I do rate books based upon my personal reading experience with them, and for me, this was a good experience, not great.
One of the aspects that didn't quite work for me was the fever dream quality. That's something I tend to not enjoy as much as I would a more standard narrative format.
That is 100% personal choice though, and I do feel like the author made the right choice for the story they were trying to tell, and that's CERTAINLY more important than pleasing me, or anyone else.
With this being said, I would recommend this for Readers who enjoy Weird Fiction, who think the concept sounds intriguing, or who enjoy more thoughtful, not necessarily happy, reads.
While on the subway that day, he ends up having an intimate encounter with another passenger. Afterwards, through Vicken's thoughts, we see maybe his plan isn't as solidified as he once believed. Maybe there is hope for him yet.
He ends up riding the subway to the end of the line and when he steps off, he finds himself in an empty, unfamiliar part of the station. Though he searches and searches, he's unable to find his way out, or even back to where he started.
We follow along as he explores this new concrete prison, trying to make sense of how and why this is happening.
Let me be clear, this isn't a fun read. I was fascinated by the concept and wanted to see how Ajram translated it to the page. It is compelling in a very morose sort of way, but considering the topics explored, that shouldn't be surprising.
I appreciate so much the beautiful writing, and the way that Ajram put to words the thoughts and feelings of someone battling depression in such a believable way. I'm sure a lot of Readers will be able to connect with the visceral feel of that.
I did love the unsettling, claustrophobic atmosphere, as well and the depiction of being trapped in a stark, grey, barren concrete labyrinth. It got under my skin.
I found the symbolism of that, it kept describing the grey of the concrete and made me think, you know, what is the brain, but grey matter. Here we had an individual held captive by their brain and this concrete prison, essentially, was the perfect representation of that.
While I can appreciate how much work and thought went into this novella, I do rate books based upon my personal reading experience with them, and for me, this was a good experience, not great.
One of the aspects that didn't quite work for me was the fever dream quality. That's something I tend to not enjoy as much as I would a more standard narrative format.
That is 100% personal choice though, and I do feel like the author made the right choice for the story they were trying to tell, and that's CERTAINLY more important than pleasing me, or anyone else.
With this being said, I would recommend this for Readers who enjoy Weird Fiction, who think the concept sounds intriguing, or who enjoy more thoughtful, not necessarily happy, reads.
September 10, 2025
I first want to thank Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Coup de Grâce in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I could follow my thanks with something similarly positive, but unfortunately, there is little here I found deserving of praise. Coup de Grâce is a horror novella, ostensibly a work of psychological, cosmic body horror. Its attempt to blend the conventions of all three subgenres is conceptually ambitious, but ultimately a failure, managing to be both unsuccessful and heavy-handed. With overwrought, violently purple prose and a plot hinging entirely on the interiority of one of the most shallow perspectives I've had the misfortune of occupying, all I can say is that I'm glad it was short - though, in a way, that almost makes its self-indulgence even more shocking.
For a sample of the self-indulgent prose: "Overhead, inverted crenellations of concrete dissever further mezzanine landings and cut the harsh luminescence of the overhead lights into a lambent gloom." I'm not one to criticise an author for using 'big words', but I did feel that Sofia Ajram was favouring a maximalist approach that did more to obfuscate than it did to render with clarity. "Inverted crenellations" is redundant, "mezzanine landings" is redundant, "dissever" is to "sever" as "irregardless" is to "regardless" - stupid, and redundant - and it should go without saying that not every noun needs an adjective. And every sentence was like that.
If I had the bandwidth to write in-depth reviews at the moment, an expanded Coup de Grâce review would look something like this. AfterPlague hits every issue I had on the head, so if you'd like to hear in a bit more detail about the plot, I highly recommend you check that out. Don't check the book out, though. I would be livid if I'd paid for this thing.
I wish I could follow my thanks with something similarly positive, but unfortunately, there is little here I found deserving of praise. Coup de Grâce is a horror novella, ostensibly a work of psychological, cosmic body horror. Its attempt to blend the conventions of all three subgenres is conceptually ambitious, but ultimately a failure, managing to be both unsuccessful and heavy-handed. With overwrought, violently purple prose and a plot hinging entirely on the interiority of one of the most shallow perspectives I've had the misfortune of occupying, all I can say is that I'm glad it was short - though, in a way, that almost makes its self-indulgence even more shocking.
For a sample of the self-indulgent prose: "Overhead, inverted crenellations of concrete dissever further mezzanine landings and cut the harsh luminescence of the overhead lights into a lambent gloom." I'm not one to criticise an author for using 'big words', but I did feel that Sofia Ajram was favouring a maximalist approach that did more to obfuscate than it did to render with clarity. "Inverted crenellations" is redundant, "mezzanine landings" is redundant, "dissever" is to "sever" as "irregardless" is to "regardless" - stupid, and redundant - and it should go without saying that not every noun needs an adjective. And every sentence was like that.
If I had the bandwidth to write in-depth reviews at the moment, an expanded Coup de Grâce review would look something like this. AfterPlague hits every issue I had on the head, so if you'd like to hear in a bit more detail about the plot, I highly recommend you check that out. Don't check the book out, though. I would be livid if I'd paid for this thing.
October 22, 2025
2 Stars
Sofia’s Coup de Grâce has moments of vivid, grotesque beauty that strangely resonate on the darker, lonelier nights. The descriptions are hauntingly detailed and at times unsettlingly precise, capturing a kind of morbid poetry. Unfortunately, beyond these few striking passages, the story struggles to hold together, leaving the rest feeling disjointed and heavy without purpose. While the imagery lingers, the narrative overall fails to engage, making it a read that I could only recommend to those seeking beauty in the bleak rather than a compelling story.
Sofia’s Coup de Grâce has moments of vivid, grotesque beauty that strangely resonate on the darker, lonelier nights. The descriptions are hauntingly detailed and at times unsettlingly precise, capturing a kind of morbid poetry. Unfortunately, beyond these few striking passages, the story struggles to hold together, leaving the rest feeling disjointed and heavy without purpose. While the imagery lingers, the narrative overall fails to engage, making it a read that I could only recommend to those seeking beauty in the bleak rather than a compelling story.
July 8, 2025
yikes, did not enjoy this!
I was so convinced this would be the perfect type of strange horror for me, and I want to respect the author and the book for the message it tries to get across, but reading it was painful. For being so short, this book is horribly overwritten, taking any hint of interest the reader might have in the story, and just drowning it in overly complicated words seemingly plucked out of a thesaurus for no reason.
The second half was much more bearable than the first, and I enjoyed the "choose your own adventure" twist which made it more engaging. Overall though, this was a loss.
I was so convinced this would be the perfect type of strange horror for me, and I want to respect the author and the book for the message it tries to get across, but reading it was painful. For being so short, this book is horribly overwritten, taking any hint of interest the reader might have in the story, and just drowning it in overly complicated words seemingly plucked out of a thesaurus for no reason.
The second half was much more bearable than the first, and I enjoyed the "choose your own adventure" twist which made it more engaging. Overall though, this was a loss.
October 26, 2024
I mean I think the fact that it took me 13 days to finish 120 pages says a lot.
I’m going to be brutally honest in my review because I feel like my expectations were set wayyyyy too high and hopefully maybe I can bring some people back to earth.
Comparing this novella to House of Leaves and Piranesi is absolutely wild and unfair to both the aforementioned books and to Coup de Grace itself. Coup de Grace read more like an overwritten backrooms r/nosleep post written by someone who is chronically online. Which I would have been fine with if it didn’t take itself SO seriously. It felt like the author had a thesaurus open next to them and replaced every single mundane word with something flowery to fill a page count
I actually didn’t mind the unique narrative element towards the end and I think it would have been a lot more interesting to do that from the very beginning and explore autonomy, control, and parasocial behavior. This potential is really the only reason I’m giving it two stars instead of one
Ultimately it was lacking substance for me. I just didn’t care about anything that was happening and seemingly neither did the narrator so what’s even the point? Maybe that’s the point of it lol if that’s the case it’s not for me regardless
ETA: I also have a very fundamental issue with a love interest being put forth as a “cure” to suicidal ideation
I’m going to be brutally honest in my review because I feel like my expectations were set wayyyyy too high and hopefully maybe I can bring some people back to earth.
Comparing this novella to House of Leaves and Piranesi is absolutely wild and unfair to both the aforementioned books and to Coup de Grace itself. Coup de Grace read more like an overwritten backrooms r/nosleep post written by someone who is chronically online. Which I would have been fine with if it didn’t take itself SO seriously. It felt like the author had a thesaurus open next to them and replaced every single mundane word with something flowery to fill a page count
I actually didn’t mind the unique narrative element towards the end and I think it would have been a lot more interesting to do that from the very beginning and explore autonomy, control, and parasocial behavior. This potential is really the only reason I’m giving it two stars instead of one
Ultimately it was lacking substance for me. I just didn’t care about anything that was happening and seemingly neither did the narrator so what’s even the point? Maybe that’s the point of it lol if that’s the case it’s not for me regardless
ETA: I also have a very fundamental issue with a love interest being put forth as a “cure” to suicidal ideation
August 1, 2024
This is a beautifully written excursion into a hellish place where the surroundings act as antagonist and the mind betrays you.
A man on a subway is going to end his life. But when he exits at a certain station, he finds himself completely alone with no way out. Nothing but endless bleak halls and rooms which defy reality.
Filled with monstrous imagery and a truly unsettling claustrophobic atmosphere, this novella will make you feel uneasy as the man slowly succumbs to this never ending environment both physically and mentally. The almost poetic prose adds to the fear. The author's sparce sharp phrasing paints a horrifying picture as it plays out in your head. It's beautifully grotesque and sticks with you.
It's also about life choices and we get to see from the perspective of this man just how life can be gloriously vibrant and endlessly harrowing at the same time. This is a fantastic novella and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
A man on a subway is going to end his life. But when he exits at a certain station, he finds himself completely alone with no way out. Nothing but endless bleak halls and rooms which defy reality.
Filled with monstrous imagery and a truly unsettling claustrophobic atmosphere, this novella will make you feel uneasy as the man slowly succumbs to this never ending environment both physically and mentally. The almost poetic prose adds to the fear. The author's sparce sharp phrasing paints a horrifying picture as it plays out in your head. It's beautifully grotesque and sticks with you.
It's also about life choices and we get to see from the perspective of this man just how life can be gloriously vibrant and endlessly harrowing at the same time. This is a fantastic novella and I highly recommend it.
I received a copy through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
December 29, 2024
3.5 stars.
Coup de Grâce is a short novella that explores the physical, emotional and psychological aspects and effects of depression and mental health in a metaphorical way which the main character Vickren experiences through the novel both physically and symbolically.
This book really made my head spin, and for a short read, it was very descriptively written.
The thought of appearing in a subway station that is like a maze with no way in or out is both terrifying and unnerving, and this drew me to pick this book up. He meets a woman and the pair explore together and discover some frightening things...
This definitely won't be a book for everyone and I did spend some time after reading it letting it all sink in but if you love psychological reads, horror and sci-fi I'd highly recommend giving this book a read. Do read until the end as it does all piece together and make more sense when you reach the end. I think this would definitely be a book to reread to understand further and a good one for a discussion group to unpick too.
Coup de Grâce is a short novella that explores the physical, emotional and psychological aspects and effects of depression and mental health in a metaphorical way which the main character Vickren experiences through the novel both physically and symbolically.
This book really made my head spin, and for a short read, it was very descriptively written.
The thought of appearing in a subway station that is like a maze with no way in or out is both terrifying and unnerving, and this drew me to pick this book up. He meets a woman and the pair explore together and discover some frightening things...
This definitely won't be a book for everyone and I did spend some time after reading it letting it all sink in but if you love psychological reads, horror and sci-fi I'd highly recommend giving this book a read. Do read until the end as it does all piece together and make more sense when you reach the end. I think this would definitely be a book to reread to understand further and a good one for a discussion group to unpick too.
July 11, 2024
A read that was the equivalent of clawing my bloody and still beating heart from my chest and sticking it in a blender, this was a deeply philosophical book that explores depression and what it means to be alive, incredibly claustrophobic I felt I was being squashed alive just reading, a mere cog in the never ending indifferent machine of life, the writing was sublime and Ajram is an author I feel would raise my IQ simply by being in their presence, the writing requires focus but you easily get swept along in the nightmarish visuals, the dark maze like labyrinth of halls Vicken walks mirroring his fractured thoughts, the vibe is both "when everything is going wrong but you're used to it" and "please help me", an uncomfortable and visceral read that forces you to face your own choices and the type of person you are, this book made me feel vulnerable and exposed but also understood, this was unique and experimental and it more than pays off, the reader becomes involved in the narrative, to say anymore would spoil but please, if you enjoy psychological horrors that puncture your very soul and leave you floating in an endless void pick this up (I'm being dramatic don't be a cry baby)
July 27, 2024
this author thinks Virginia Woolf died in Leeds
November 14, 2024
Quietly beautiful, heartbreaking, an accurate portrayal of hopelessness and despair. This book speaks volumes even though its pages are few, a work of art and expression that deeply hits home.
October 11, 2024
“There is a stillness here, though not in the way that a church is still, or a meadow, or a shore. It is a place that has intention – an interior built for humans, wholly unoccupied by them. A place that has been here a long time. Big, with function, for people, but devoid of any life and imbuing the space with a mild perception of wrongness.”
Despite being very excited for this novella, based off its synopsis and early praise, I wasn’t expecting it to impact me to the extent that it did. In only 144 pages, Coup de Grace manage to put my emotions through a wringer. Horrifying but beautiful, literary but visceral, alienating and deeply relatable, melancholic and strangely poetic… all words to describe this book in contradicting, but equally fitting ways.
The Story
Coup de Grace tells the story of a man on his way to his planned death. Literally… Vicken has suffered from mental health problems for years now and has decided that he has reached his limits. Today he’ll take the metro to the riverside and throw himself in the river to end it all. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station. Trapped in a liminal network of never-ending, completely abandoned subway stations, seemingly existing outside of time and space, Vicken is confronted with the horrors of this maze, as well as the horrors within his own mind.
What I loved:
Reminiscent of the likes of Piranesi and a little bit of House of Leaves, I loved how the author managed to create an entire setting that perfectly mirrors the content and themes of his story. Coup de Grace is about loneliness, isolation, liminality and the way that grief and mental illness can completely cut you off and alienate you from your own life and the people around you. Through almost poetic prose, Sophia Ajram creates a story that feels almost feverlike, dissociative and alienating, whilst also capturing the exact horrors that I feel people who’ve suffered from depression will recognize. There are few “classic scares”; no zombies, monsters or ghouls to be found on these pages. The terror here is more psychological, more existential… It’s within the creeping of the endless walls of a maze of sorrow and isolation, and within the slow decay of the familiar around you, until everything feels unreal and hostile.
It's difficult to argue that I loved this book. As someone who’s experienced deep depression, this was a little too close for comfort at times in its capturing of my liminal memories of that time. Yet there’s no denying the quality that went into penning this book and capturing that experience so well.
I’m not usually the kind of reviewer to open their review with a bunch of trigger warnings, but I’m making an exception here. If you or someone close to you is currently suffering from depression, anxiety, suicidality or another type of mental health crisis, this might not be the book to read right now… It’s bleak, it’s melancholic and although it’s beautifully written, it doesn’t hold back. Proceed at your own discretion. Personally, I’d recommend saving this one for when you’re in a stable mind-space, when it’s less likely to trigger- and more likely to resonate in a helpful way.
“Kids or no kids, loneliness lives in our bodies more than ourselves.”
Despite being very excited for this novella, based off its synopsis and early praise, I wasn’t expecting it to impact me to the extent that it did. In only 144 pages, Coup de Grace manage to put my emotions through a wringer. Horrifying but beautiful, literary but visceral, alienating and deeply relatable, melancholic and strangely poetic… all words to describe this book in contradicting, but equally fitting ways.
The Story
Coup de Grace tells the story of a man on his way to his planned death. Literally… Vicken has suffered from mental health problems for years now and has decided that he has reached his limits. Today he’ll take the metro to the riverside and throw himself in the river to end it all. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station. Trapped in a liminal network of never-ending, completely abandoned subway stations, seemingly existing outside of time and space, Vicken is confronted with the horrors of this maze, as well as the horrors within his own mind.
What I loved:
Reminiscent of the likes of Piranesi and a little bit of House of Leaves, I loved how the author managed to create an entire setting that perfectly mirrors the content and themes of his story. Coup de Grace is about loneliness, isolation, liminality and the way that grief and mental illness can completely cut you off and alienate you from your own life and the people around you. Through almost poetic prose, Sophia Ajram creates a story that feels almost feverlike, dissociative and alienating, whilst also capturing the exact horrors that I feel people who’ve suffered from depression will recognize. There are few “classic scares”; no zombies, monsters or ghouls to be found on these pages. The terror here is more psychological, more existential… It’s within the creeping of the endless walls of a maze of sorrow and isolation, and within the slow decay of the familiar around you, until everything feels unreal and hostile.
It's difficult to argue that I loved this book. As someone who’s experienced deep depression, this was a little too close for comfort at times in its capturing of my liminal memories of that time. Yet there’s no denying the quality that went into penning this book and capturing that experience so well.
I’m not usually the kind of reviewer to open their review with a bunch of trigger warnings, but I’m making an exception here. If you or someone close to you is currently suffering from depression, anxiety, suicidality or another type of mental health crisis, this might not be the book to read right now… It’s bleak, it’s melancholic and although it’s beautifully written, it doesn’t hold back. Proceed at your own discretion. Personally, I’d recommend saving this one for when you’re in a stable mind-space, when it’s less likely to trigger- and more likely to resonate in a helpful way.
“Kids or no kids, loneliness lives in our bodies more than ourselves.”
October 13, 2024
Officially the worst book of 2024! I read a GoodReads review that summed up all my issues with this book perfectly. It’s self-indulgent to hell. Not only is the prose a slog fest to get through, it ends up being impossible to even interpret what’s going on. I love weird fucked up books, but yall already know I hate the flowery, eclectic writing that has sentence that will never make sense. I had to skim at least half the book cuz the sentences quite literally did not produce coherent thought. The main character is insufferable. I have severe depression but I would never believe depression is worse than cancer. I would never shit on medication and therapy in my novel because it didn’t work for me or my shitty main character. The romanticization of cutting and self harm is once again self-indulgent but literally insane. People who actually self harm don’t behave this way. It paints a horrible picture for people with mental health issues. The book is a walking stereotype. Author tried to make this discount House of Leaves as well, which yall also know I disliked House of Leaves as well. This had such a great potential to be a powerful and meaningful book about mental health, self harm, and suicide - but instead it was pretentious as fuck, actively harmful imo, and soooooo self-indulgent. You can make a weird litfic book and also make your novel make any fucking sense (Moshfegh/Awad). You’re not cool making your book unintelligible. It’s not artsy, it’s pretentious. I hate ripping apart someone’s work like this, but this was very very bad unfortunately. 1⭐️
81/100
81/100
November 24, 2024
This one was not for me. While I can enjoy really bleak novels (for example, I'm a big fan of Kathe Koja's The Cipher) this one felt like something besides bleak. It felt like rolling around in suicidal ideation for a good while. It does some interesting structural things. And honestly I loved the setting (lucky for me I have been to one of the very deep Brutalist Montreal subway stations that feels like you are descending into a very strange hell) but I got not enough of that and an awful lot of very deep depression.
October 2, 2024
one of my favourite reads of the year, I don't want to say to much because going into this not knowing is the way to go in my opinion BUTTTT be sure to check the content warnings as this contains some heavy themes.
I read this in one day because I just couldn't put it down, but it's also doable because this is a short little novella coming in at just under 150 pages. I also really loved what the author chose to do with the ending.
Read this if you want to read a mind-bending, visceral experimental horror with poetic prose and liminal spaces that will make you feel like you are suffocating while your heart is being ripped out.
This is one of those books that I plan to re-read in the future. and I don't do this often.
many thanks to Titan and Netgalley for providing a copy to read. as always opinions are my own.
I read this in one day because I just couldn't put it down, but it's also doable because this is a short little novella coming in at just under 150 pages. I also really loved what the author chose to do with the ending.
Read this if you want to read a mind-bending, visceral experimental horror with poetic prose and liminal spaces that will make you feel like you are suffocating while your heart is being ripped out.
This is one of those books that I plan to re-read in the future. and I don't do this often.
many thanks to Titan and Netgalley for providing a copy to read. as always opinions are my own.
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