I think this book is really unique and fun. Margot is almost the exactly opposite of me in every way but I was still able to relate to her so much. I loved watching her grow throughout the story into a confident woman and mother.

She really starts to find her place in this world and starts to discover what she can expect from other people. I think this story is charming, clever, and funny. Honestly, I enjoyed it so much more than I expected to.

I ended up listening to the audiobook & Elle Fanning does a fantastic job narrating this as well.

Margo's Got Money Troubles was funny, unpredictable, quirky, and real. I felt myself rooting for these characters and loving their unpredictable and odd choices along the way. The writing was real and witty and I woke up my partner multiple times from laughing so hard while reading in bed.

The father-daughter relationship between Margo and Jinx was one of my favorite parts of this book. This book thoroughly surprised me. I will definitely be reading more books by Rufi Thorpe.

Favorite Quotes:

“I’m just saying,” Jinx said, seemingly more lucid now, “when you’re lost in the deep dark forest, the thing to do isn’t to get scared of the trees. You have to find your way out again.”

“The sadness from the morning didn’t exactly go away; it dried on me and slowly crumbled, leaving me covered in little flakes, like if you eat a glazed donut in a black shirt. That was how it was being a grown-up. We were all moving through the world like that, like those river dolphins that look pink only because they’re so covered in scars.”

“Love was not something, I realized, that came to you from outside. I had always thought that love was supposed to come from other people, and somehow, I was failing to catch the crumbs of it, failing to eat them, and I went around belly empty and desperate. I didn’t know that love was supposed to come from within me, and that as long as I loved others, the strength and warmth of that love would fill me, make me strong.”

A book that challenges all preconceived notions... a totally enjoyable story to remind us that there are many paths forward and progress looks different for all people. You'll question every choice Margo makes, but then you'll remember, this is her life, not yours and you'll be her cheerleader as she figures it all out.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for this ARC. I did enjoy this book and even laughed in parts. I read it in one day. I would definitely recommend this book.

The only book I had read by Rufi Thorpe prior to Margo's Got Money Troubles was The Knockout Queen, and while I enjoyed that book and all its uniqueness, it didn't reach a five-star read for me. But when I saw this one was coming out, I knew I had to read it, and this time I was completely blown away. Once again Thorpe hits us with a super unique storyline and sometimes slightly ridiculous things that only her brain can think of, and it all worked so well together. This has some very serious themes while also being a coming-of-age story and it is at times absolutely hilarious.

I need to take a moment to discuss the audiobook and how damn excited I was to see Elle Fanning as the narrator. Though I’m more familiar with her sister, I was so surprised and pleased to see her name pop up. She rocked the narration, and even managed to surpass my expectations. She was the perfect Margo and was spot on in every way. I loved Margo as well as her dad, but I was ready to throw her mom under a bus. Sorry not sorry. Margo's Got Money Troubles felt very raw and real and managed to hit me with some surprises and left me with a smile on my face. Read this if you have ever been curious about OnlyFans, love flawed but tenacious younger female leads, and originality that packs a punch.

I went into this book pretty blindly. What a fun surprise. The plot of this book was unique. The characters were flawed, but lovable. I especially loved Margo, for finding a way (albeit unconventional) to provide for the baby she loved so much. The story was funny, but also heartwarming. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Margo is a 19-year-old woman attending college and working in the evenings as a waitress. She doesn't have a lot of direction or plans for the future. She's upset that her best friend has moved across the country to New York City to attend college, while she's still stuck in her hometown with limited prospects. She begins an unenthusiastic affair with one of her professors who takes an interest in her. After 3 dates, Margo discovers she's pregnant. The father of the baby, her mother, and her acquaintances all assume she'll have an abortion, but Margo stubbornly decides she'll have the baby and show them all how capable she is. The baby's father cuts off all contact and wants nothing to do with Margo or the baby. After the baby is born, Margo is dismayed when the reality of having a baby crashes down on her: she can't work without childcare (which is expensive or entails a long waiting list -- something she "didn't think to check" before the baby's birth), her mother wants no part of babysitting, her roommates flee after a few weeks of a baby crying 24/7 (leaving Margo to pay a bigger share of the rent), etc. Her mostly absent father, recently freed from yet another stint in rehab, moves in and helps out with expenses and childcare. So Margo is left to decide: what does she want to do with her life? Naturally, she decides to start a lucrative career in online sex work . . .
 
I wanted to read this book as I'd seen someone recommend it as being very funny. The description also says it's "laugh out loud" hilarious. I'm very confused about that. This book isn't funny at all. The overall feeling is sadness, along with frustration at Margo's inability to think ahead or deal with reality. Where's the humor? I have no idea.

This is one of my favorite books I read this year. The quirky cast of characters, the ridiculous plot, and the big ol’ heart behind all of it made this book so memorable.

Recommend this if you want a book filled with people who make questionable choices but do so with mostly good intent, if you love redemption and if you want your heart strings tugged by a misfit group.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one was fun! While there are serious topics throughout the book the author is able to flawlessly mix humor which makes it a delightful read. I laughed out loud multiple times.

Synopsis: 20 year old Margo becomes pregnant as the result of an affair with her college professor and the choices she makes in order to support and raise her son.

I was rooting for Margo throughout the book. She is smart, strong, funny, determined and brave. If she had a problem she found a way to tackle it herself. The author displayed the hardships of being a single mom but also the rewards of being a mom.

Quick read. Witty. Insightful. Entertaining.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrow for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a total blast!

I don't know if this will be everyone's cup of tea BUT I would certainly drink it again! The premise of the book is a twenty year old kind of directionless community college student has a short lived affair with her much older professor, gets pregnant, decides to keep the baby and in the process of raising this baby (less than a year all in all), begins to grow up and learn about herself, what it takes to survive in today's world when you are young, unfinished traditional education wise, and basically poor AF. Throw in a sort of celebrity father, secretly drug addicted father, mother who just wants to be taken care of for once, and the world of highly sexualized social media, (TikTok, Insta and OnlyFans play a major part), and you have the bones of the story.

Anyway! This book was fun, I am a full generation older than Margo (gulp!j but am savvy enough about today's social media, etc and just loved the absolute honesty and sometimes absurdity of the story. The author pulls no punches in describing what it takes for a woman to survive in todays world and in some ways, the book is almost feminist in its frank depiction of modern day sex work, and the pride that Margo takes in her work. It's not a view I would have come to understand on my own, but having read this work or fiction that's likely real life for many young women today, it makes sense because at the end of the day, Margo makes her own choices and is proud of them no matter what the views of others are, and that's something I can relate to.

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe is the story of a young woman that is trying to figure out how to be an adult. This was such an honest and funny story about Margo, who is so refreshing and endearing. She goes through a lot, but figures things out along the way. Sometimes she's a bit of a mess and sometimes she's a success. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

📖 BOOK REVIEW

🎧 MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe
4.5 stars

Genre: contemporary fiction
Did I cry: no
Published in 2024

💭: i had seen fantastic reviews for this buzzy new release, and the audiobook is narrated by Elle Fanning so i obviously had to listen to it asap & i adored it!!

It’s equal parts ridiculous (in the best way) and equal parts relatable. It allows us to connect with the main character who is going through real life struggles while also making it hysterical and outrageous. It’s super modern but not in a cringe, over-the-top way. I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot because i found that going in blind allowed me to find it even funnier because it was all so unexpected. Overall, this is a super funny read with an engaging, heartwarming plot and great characters with top-notch character development and i deffffff recommend, especially on audio 😌

I was given the opportunity to read Margo's Got Money Troubles by NetGalley. Here is my honest feedback:

I first gravitated to this book because of the cover. All I thought was, "Who put a picture of me on a book cover?!" LOL. Then I saw the title and thought, "OMG! They wrote a book about me!". Ha ha. From the first page to the last, I was not disappointed. This book was exactly what I needed when I decided to read it. It's a very heartwarming and laugh-out loud book. There were several times where I would catch myself cracking up and re-reading a paragraph or two so I could laugh again.

Margo is a child of a Hooter's waitress and an ex-pro wrestler who spent the majority of her childhood taking care of her free-range parents. She knew that when she grew up, she wanted more in life. Enter community college where she had dreams of doing something bigger...but instead she did her professor and ended up with a baby. Determined to have something of her own and believing that she would be O.K. she kept the baby even though everyone else told her not to.

At 20 years old, she's a college dropout and a single mom with no income or childcare. Her father, Jinx, shows up and asks to live with her after another stint in rehab. She agrees, but only if he will provide childcare for her baby. She comes up with a plan to get the money that she needs to raise her son and protect her from her ex and his family. She creates an Only Fans account that soon goes through the roof. Everything is perfect now, right?

Read this book to find out more about Margo's struggle to come into her own, the hilarity of the advice that her dad provides, and how she becomes the heroine of her own story. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and want to fist pump at times. I loved this book!

3/5
Margo's Got Money Troubles features a young, single mother who struggles to make it in today's society. The only way to make it is through OnlyFans and help from her former WWE father. This book reflects on the double standards that women, often single mothers, face when providing for their families, as well as the absurdity that is TikTok and social media fame. This was a hilarious and touching story that had every option to become misanthropic and give Margo a terrible ending, but instead allowed Margo to succeed and be the hero at the end of the book.

Knowing this will become a limited series staring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfieffer, and Nick Offerman, I can't imagine anyone better than these three actors.

I’d been saving this book for when I found myself in a slump because I was so confident I was gonna love it, and I’m so glad that I DID! I really enjoyed Thorpe’s last book, her books feel like watching indie coming-of-age comedies. 20-year-old new single mother Margo was such an interesting character to follow and I thought the way it switched from first to third person perspectives was a fun concept. being a sex worker isn’t something I see a lot of in books, unless it’s in more of a ‘dark’ way, so it was pretty fun to read about how she built up her OF page. Margo is the epitome of a protagonist you just wanna root for the whole way through, and this story was so compelling.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback. This book was delightful and I couldn't help but fall in love with all characters involved.

There’s a lot to say about this slim, buzzy book, but at its core, it’s a warm and fuzzy (although far from precious), hilarious story about accepting people for who they are and growth and finding yourself.

A new favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

This was so fun to read.

I’m embarrassed it took me so long to finally read this one, but man, was it good! Once I started, I tore through it. Rufi Thorpe is a talented writer and this novel is unique in structure (I loved the mix of first and third person), original in plot and premise (college student is impregnated by her professor, has the baby, bonds with formerly absent father, become an onlyfans star? but it’s so much more than just that lol), and just so funny and delightful. Highly recommend!

Margo was one of the most wildly enjoyable books I've read in a long time. It packed so much nuance into a plot that managed to be both entertaining and heartfelt. The way this book reframed how we as a society think about women, shame, and what makes a family was done without being preachy or in your face with its messaging. I found myself rooting for certain characters because they just simply deserved it (and being so defeated when others couldn't see the reality of the circumstances because of their systemic beliefs).

My book club ended up reading this together, and it was unanimously well received. It was as challenging and rich with topics to discuss as it was readable and fun.