The Island of Excess Love

Block F. L. (2014). The Island of Excess Love. New York, NY: Henry Holt Company.

Summary

Pen lives in a pink house with Hex, Ash, Venice, and Ez. The world around them has been destroyed but they have been spared.  The ship appears one day and they board it and end up traveling to a land that is different than the world they came from. It is ruled by a king. And soon it is discovered he sent the ship because he wants to marry Pen. There is plenty of magic in this book. The characters fall under a spell on the ship and on the island. While under a spell, Pen has sex with Dylan the king even though she is dating Hex.  They two characters must come to terms with this and also with Hex being transgender. They must decide if their relationship will last as they sail back to their homeland. 

Commentary

I was  confused while reading this book.  I discovered that it is a sequel to another book and that maybe I should have read that book first or instead. The author relies heavily on the element of magic and altered states as part of the story.  If you are not into magicians and spells, you may find the book enjoyable. It couldn't really give it the time it needs to be fully appreciated. The fact that Pen was actually raped by Dylan seems to be blown over as well. She was in a altered stated so that he could have sex with her to impregnate her. This is rape because she was not lucid enough to consent. I also didn't catch on initially that Hex was transgender. They may have been explained in the first book and since I didn't read it I didn't know.

Connections 

Other books by Francesca Lia Block

Love in the Time of Global Warming

The Elementals

Weetzie Bat

Connections to Text

This is a dystopian novel under the subgenre of science fiction. The setting is continuation from the prequel. It does require the reader to suspend belief and believe that magic ships appear and potions can put spells on people like what happened on the ship. There are some real current topics present as well. Hex's gender identification and how it affects Pen is addressed. That brings a sense of realism to the novel.