Escape from Incel Island

by Margaret Killjoy, Jonas Goonface (Illustrator)

To cope with rising misogynist violence, the US government offered people a golden opportunity: any man who felt like they were owed a free woman could move to a remote island and be given one. The offer was, of course, a trap. Five years later, wise-cracking special ops mercenary Mankiller Jones and their companion Dr. Morrison venture to Incel Island on an important mission for the military, and in the process become the first women (or people perceived as women) the inhabitants of Incel Island have seen in years. Along with a ragtag group of Nice Guys, Mankiller and Dr. Morrison encounter hordes of CHUDs, Volcels, Betas, and the King of the Incels himself as they try to escape the island prison.

On Incel Island, somebody’s about to get laid…to rest.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, Novella, Humor, LGBT, Audiobook, Horror

95 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2023

About the author

Margaret Killjoy is a transfeminine author and editor currently based in the Appalachian mountains. Her most recent book is an anarchist demon hunters novella called The Barrow Will Send What it May, published by Tor.com. She spends her time crafting and complaining about authoritarian power structures and she blogs at birdsbeforethestorm.net.

Reviews

[Quin Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this one but it didn’t really deliver. It’s an interesting premise (an island where all entitled misogynistic incels are sent to quarantine them from society) and it’s a fun campy read. But the moral and political inquiry the book undertakes is severely limited. The protagonist comes too quickly to the belief that the island is bad and shouldn’t exist. Why? What would be the alternative? How do you deal with the systemic problem of male sexual entitlement? If the island is flawed (and the book does demonstrate that it is to a certain extent), what would be the correct way to deal with this problem? If the island is a metaphor for prison for abusers, what is the alternative?

And I cannot overlook the bizarre choice to have both heroes (a woman and a non-binary person) express sexual/romantic attraction toward and kiss a “reformed” incel. Literally why was that necessary? What message is trying to be communicated? The book takes pains to try to reassure the reader that it is not endorsing the “sex/romance is a reward for good behavior” ideology that fuels incel misogyny, and yet it can’t be ignored that it does end up endorsing that very message.

Perhaps this idea needed more space to fully flesh out and perhaps a slightly different genre. The book is quite short, under 100 pages, and it’s campy action-adventure genre means that it’s more about being a “fun read” than promoting serious reflection. For a topic as serious as how to deal with a fascist movement seeking to reinstate male supremacy and sexual domination, those are dangerous limitations.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I almost didn't read through no fault of its own. See it came out around the same time as another island something book by a profoundly garbage author so I yeeted it in the probably not worth my time category without looking at who the author was. Fast forward to this year and I read the Amplitudes anthology, and it was clear that I needed to read more by this author and I'm so glad I did because this novella was hilarious, I cackled so much that my cat decided I was no longer a good perch (once again Link would like you to feel sorry for him). It was also kinda cute in its own way, surprisingly.

I just loved Mankiller, our MC, and their humor, the evolution of their relationship with Kevin was also chef's kiss. If you're looking for a funny, irreverent but not devoid of humanity read I can't recommend this one enough.

I already have my next Killjoy read lined up (The Sapling Cage) so fair warning that Killjoy's writing might be a little on the addictive side.

[Jackson Culpepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is sort of like if everyone in Predator was queer and the Predator itself was Gamergate: an action/adventure through the 2010's rise of the manosphere, a kaleidoscope of weird incel subcultures taken to their extremes, a guns-blazing, wise-cracking romp through various swamps of misogyny. There's also eldritch horror and swords. I didn't read Gideon the 9th, but from what I've heard, this might be like Gideon the 9th:pop punk::Escape from Incel Island:black metal.

I'm left wondering what kind of cathartic this book might be. It is certainly a satirical exploration of the many strange ways that masculinity can get weird and toxic; one of the joys of reading Killjoy is how thoroughly her characters commit to their ideologies. Some of the originally-incel characters get a sense of redemption, either by realizing and embracing their own queerness or by actually facing the contradictions of their masculinities and the ways they have hurt people (and themselves) in service of masculinity. However, most of the incel characters form a horror show of subcultures that would be ridiculous if they weren't so damn dangerous. This point is pretty accurate.

But does this kind of satire and bloodletting help us heal from being at the mercy of these kinds of subcultures, especially for queer folx and women? I did enjoy this picaresque journey as it sliced and exploded its way through everything I remembered about the Gamergate era. There's a comfort in art that contextualizes and contains the horrors of the past; it gives a shape to something that was terrible partly because of its shapelessness. At the same time, incel talking points and memes felt almost quaint next to the exterminationist rhetoric of Desantis et al. currently.

Perhaps that's the answer: this book is a warrior emerging bloodied from the forest, holding aloft some heads of the hydra she's killed. It's triumphant--but we can still hear that fucker hissing in the distance.

[Mackenzie Marrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

*chanting* Killjoy! Killjoy! Killjoy!

A engaging, short-read that I 100% recommend. Very pulpy and stupid (as is the intention), but also smart and poignant! If you're on the edge about reading it, just give the first two paragraphs a shot and you'll be hooked.

Mankiller Jones is a character for the ages- struggling with pre-convinced notions of carceral justice and working for flawed systems and, ostensibly, evil people. They put on a very tough exterior (and they are tough), but aren't afraid to be wrong and unsure.

""War and disaster" would be my middle name if I hadn't already legally changed my middle name to Danger."

What surprised me, was the way Killjoy navigated and entertained these different type of incels and how they group up in online spaces into an "real life" situation. I will be thinking about the volcels for my entire life (The king is Kingston Munch from Drawtectives, change my mind, you can't). Killjoy also makes some pretty surprising decisions, giving depth and insight into the minds of those trapped on the island- most notably the reformed Kevin. Which I think is her quick and dirty novella length way of advocating for Restorative Justice over criminal prosecution or in this case....complete abandonment and shunning from society.

"I've never been a nature person. Consider it my rebellion from my burnout hippie parents. I only ever went out to nature to see if I was tough enough to conquer it, never to just appreciate it."

All in all, a quick and exciting read that isn't going to ask too much of you- but will pick at your brain :)

[cheyanne jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was such a pointed reference to how America and men treated those that they deem lesser than them. It has a dystopian type feel of a future that actually doesn't seem so far from where we are now. It was interesting, comical. The voice of the author was relatable and funny. The author packed such a full story into only 100 pages. This was good, short, thought provoking whilst still comical, read.

[Carly F · Rating 4 out of 5]

FUN! I laughed out loud multiple times. Please tell me Mankiller Jones has a series on the way.

[Julianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

listened on audiobook while driving to Canmore. the premise was so fun and goofy and silly, and the execution was heavy handed and not fun at all. a big fumble honestly. I also really don’t need to be whacked over the head with large chunks of the author explaining her view point.

[Erin]

Absolute mayhem with really excellent zingers. So many highlights. Glad I bought it.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine, campy fun.

The premise is interesting, and I definitely wasn't bored. I think I would've rated it higher if the ending made more sense or was more satisfying. It just kinda fell apart for me in literally the last 3 or 4 pages.

I would be interested in reading more from this author though!

[RLJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enorm domme premise maar leest wel lekker weg. Kwaliteitsboekje

[Jessica]

Enjoyable campy exploration of misogyny that could have been more incisive, but then maybe that would have ruined the relatively light tone.

[Andrew Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly novella where a bunch of incel misogynists are lured to a prison island with the promise of a woman for everyone 🤣 When a non-binary mercenary is sent to retrieve sensitive data left behind, the mission encounters several complications that force our hero to face the island's inhabitants, usually ending in death in one way or another.

[sylas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book delighted me.

[Kaitlyn McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to audiobook, so camp <3

[dobbs the dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was ridiculous and utterly entertaining.

Not a lot I can say because it’s very short, but if the synopsis seems interesting, I recommend giving it a try.

[Tamara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but I feel like I wasn't the target audience, humor-wise - didn't find it particularly interesting, entertaining or funny at all. (1.5 stars)

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a commute book, and let me tell you, enough time passed between my reading chapters of the book that the mini recap at the start of each (want to say because they were originally serialized?) was very appreciated. The premise is that the US government lured all the incels to an island with the promise of a woman for every man (on account of how they were behind most of the mass shootings), and then abandoned them there. Our main character is a nonbinary person named Mankiller Jones, and they're sent in on a team on a secret mission that eventually abandons them to the island. The sense of humor is wry as hell, as you can tell from the tagline, Goonface's illustrations are wonderful, and there's honestly a really good anti-carceral backbone on the whole thing (which some of the reviewers are obviously not getting). It's under a hundred pages, and a good ride. Definitely pick it up.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, first thing this year that gave me a genuine laugh. Snarky, irreverent, fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Completely did what it set out to do. Margaret Killjoy is a master of the novella (or what ever you call books between 80 and 150 pages). How do you get so many plot points in there and have space for humor and asides and a nudge of philosophy? I like too that that this feels like a satire/thriller (probably wrong use of “satire”) while other works solidly are folk horror (Danielle Cain series) and ..I dunno political contemporary fiction (A Country of Ghosts) and everything has all manner of LGBTQIA+ characters.

[Lumpy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that something about “incel island” is unapologetically violent. The title and blurb really made it sound like it would be a humorous read, and it really was NOT that. The satire is well-done, but don’t go into this book expecting light laughs.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s scope here for a full length novel, a film would be interesting too.

Truth is I paid £15 and got 90 pages of something I could probably write myself but was a silly bit of pulpy fun.

[Disfiguredpeacock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not written for me. I'm pretty sure it's meant for a YA audience, but I can't imagine any circumstance in which I would give this book to an adolescent.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another reviewer said it perfectly: "This is sort of like if everyone in Predator was queer and the Predator itself was Gamergate."

In this world, America dealt with toxic masculinity by sending 5000 of the afflicted to a remote island.

We promised them women. We did not deliver. But we do send care packages. Often they include weapons and other dangerous things. Like a golden crown.

Half of them have slaughtered each other since. The survivors have divided into tribes. The two biggest are the Kingsmen, who are all in for feudalism and The Nice Guys. We also meet CHUDS, Vocels (voluntary celibates) and Lovecraftian types trying to raise Dagon. There's even a few women in the woods (one of the care packages had gender affirming care supplies. Plus a couple of heroic nuns came by to try to minister).

Our heroes, Mankiller Jones and Dr. Helena Morrison, take on a dangerous mission to Incel Island. Some of the Nice Guys agree to help. Some of them are seriously working on themselves and get the errors of their thinking. Along the way, our heroes tackle several different species of toxic masculinity. There's a lot of beheadings.

It's surprisingly kind in the end.

A good book for a hard weekend.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent, afternoon read (that I spread out over a few busy days). Killjoy's one of the enduring highlights amid a strong cast of Cool Zone Media (podcast network) contributors, and her oeuvre is as rad and singular as her presence there, where I learned of the existence of this book.

She writes in very much the same, distinct way in which she speaks. The work's voice is as singular and cool, with an edge of indefatigable wit and charm as her artistic and journalistic presences elsewhere.

The narrative arc of this story is a compelling, breakneck contemporary social commentary on its titular subject matter. It really hits the ground running, and never slows pace from page one to its conclusion. And it sticks the landing effectively, reading as very self-aware in its construction. This modest-length excursion piercing the heart of fringe contemporary social politics bursts at the seams with a sardonic cocktail of humor and violence.

Having listened to her reading of another of her works, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘣 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘰𝘯 - I was compelled to give this story a read and wasn't disappointed!

[Tinker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margaret Killjoy hits another homerun in the superb owl of being a badass!

Margaret Killjoy is my favorite person ever. She could write a thousand page techical manual on...I don't know some sportsball thing, or something about cars. Anyways, my point is that she could write something that bores me and I'd read it from cover to cover in a day.

Escape from Incel Island is not a technical manual on something I dislike. It is a satirical take on gender norms and the dipshits who are incapable of viewing the world past the tip of their micropenis'.

I loved every word of this novella. Most of the characters are both lovable and relatable. Kevin is basically me in my late 20's, before I realized that not only do I want to protect these people, but I am one of these people.

After you are finished reading this book, buy another copy for any incels in your life. Maybe they can find their way past the aforementioned tips.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe even three and a half stars for this fun little novella. Mankiller Jones and Dr Morrison visit Incel Island (an island filled with exiled incels) to retrieve some top secret government information. The incels are living in an echo chamber of bad ideas about masculinity and, as a result, have formed themselves into factions/gangs/groups, but they all have the desire to kill Mankiller and Morrison in common. Our heroes do their best to retrieve the information and escape Incel Island alive and in one piece - and hilarity ensues....

This a fun, politically correct (at times) romp, characters cover a diversity of genders and the odd political quip is slipped in to keep you on your toes. The US Governemnt - "about as evil as any empire on earth in history". 'Escape from Incel Island' reads as if it's part of a series, so I'll be looking out for more adventures with Mankiller and Morrison....

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 3.5?

I went in expecting camp, satire, black humor - all of these were present but the story still somehow didn't quite hit the mark for me. I just finished A Country of Ghosts and so I know Killjoy is capable of packing a LOT of story into very few pages, however here it feels very surface level and too committed to the tone and genre to do anything really interesting with its very interesting premise.

Overall, not bad but not great either, and I have to admit I'm quite salty I paid $12 for something that felt like a first draft for a creative writing assignment. There was something special here, but it needed more time, more edits, and perhaps some more pages to emerge.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to this book prompted by a Patreon I follow who rates books on the "Maenad-o-Meter." https://www.patreon.com/posts/maenad-...

I think the story rates high on that because the main character is non-binary, and the supporting main character is a female with a PhD in something related to cybersecurity. They are the heroes of the story, keeping things moving as they try to escape.

I think what bothered me about this was that the narration seemed to be more serious than irreverent. The little twinkle in the eye that shows scheming or feistiness just wasn't there for me. Also, the number of times that 'said' was used with dialogue. I know it's picky.

That said, if you like a blood-and-guts short little adventure and you don't mind a lot of language, this could be fun for you.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a long short story or a short novelette in four chapters with a recap leading off all chapters after the first. Expect a quick read that briefly touches on the many flavors of incel in a humorous, violent adventure. The prose was awkwardly informational at moments, and always informal in the way of good trash fiction or fan fiction. Any points or arguments being made were without sufficient development for me to feel like I had learned something by the end, but that's comedy. And I did laugh.

Aside: This didn't effect my rating, but the $20 suggested retail is too high for a volume this slender. Unless you're buying it as a partial donation to the worthy cause of supporting a smaller, more independent writer, that is.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I...don't really know what I just read. Whatever it was, it got worse the further we went along. What this reminds me of more than anything else is Q-Force. It's trying so hard to tell an important story, to be something meaningful. And it keeps falling just short. Which, really, probably explains my biggest issues with this book: it was too short. It's too short to really have much of a story and it is too short to do much of anything with the characters. They are just...there.

Also, this book doesn't know if it's funny or dramatic or wants the drama to be undercut by the humor. (If this, indeed is humor. I found it distinctly unfunny. But it seems to be written in a way that is supposed to be funny.)

[Max Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this because the premise sounded so good. And I did enjoy it, it was a fun, campy action adventure, but I didn't like it as much as I hoped I would. There was so much in here, so much to unpack and consider about society, misogyny, toxic masculinity and more, but the story just skims the surface. Which is fine, it's still a good book, and a fun read, but from the title and premise it seemed like we'd get more depth and exploration. I still recommend it, and I'm definitely going to look for more from this author - if you like a fun, snarky adventure then you'll have a good time, just don't expect too much from the socio-political commentary.