Escape from Incel Island is a novella by Margaret Killjoy.
Finished on: 24.1.2026

Content Note: discussion of rape culture, misogyny, racism, (internalized) queermisia

Plot:
A few years ago, Incel Island was created: lured with the promise of receiving a woman, everybody who signed up for it got carted to a remote island and left there to fend for themselves. Mankiller Jones is a professional mercenary, and when they get the job to accompany computer specialist Dr Morrison to Incel Island, they take the job despite the fact that Dr Morrison will be the first woman the incels on the island have seen in years, and will probably think that Mankiller is a woman themself. But once they reach their contacts on the island, things start to go wrong pretty quickly.

Escape from Incel Island is a fun and very quick read that I devoured in a very short time, being thoroughly entertained all the way through.

Incels are a real-world problem, and not a small one either. Escape from Incel Island humorously leads us through the different subgroups and introducing us to the problems with each. At the same time, it always retains a humanist perspective. As monstrous as some of the decisions are, the people that make them are still people. Some can even redeem themselves.

The decision to put these people on the island and think that the problem is dealt with, is also shown as at least equally monstrous. Imprisonment is not a solution, at all, and as Mankiller learns that, her views also change. We see what does work as a real solution, too: honest self-reflection, self-examination – and self-acceptance. The people we do see change all engage in that.

Above all, though, Escape from Incel Island is fun. Mankiller has a great sense of humor, and Killjoy has a good sense of timing and pacing as well. It makes for an addictive read that I could barely put down. There is a moderate amount of gore and definitely a lot of violence. It reads a bit like a video game, one of the kind I never play, leading to a very satisfying conclusion.

Summarizing: great fun.