MARGO’S GOT MONEY PROBLEMS was my first Rufi Thorpe read, and what a wild ride it was.

A book that tackles financial difficulty, class and status, single parenthood, sex work, and the world adjusting to an internet age.

The good: This book is, in a word, CHAOTIC. The insane tiktok scripts, the pro-wrestler addict dad, the full page Pokémon d*ck ratings… this is an absolute fever dream of a book. Margo’s life is an absolute trainwreck that I couldn’t put down

The not as good: I think the book ties things up a little too neatly to match the energy of the rest of the book. Also, the switching between first and third person took a lot of time to adjust too and it kept pulling me out of the story.

This is hilarious! The opening is one of the best have ever read! If that does not get you hooked on this laugh out loud book, you are not a funny person. I coudl not stop reading this. It felt like a comedy show in front of me. So fun to read!

Yes, I did read the synopsis of this book before reading it. However, nobody could have prepared me for what I was about to read. We’ve got a vast array of big personalities, some really weird and funny, plot lines, and every once in a while, I had to ask myself what the heck I was reading. Now that I finished it I’m glad I gave it a chance it made me laugh. It made me confused. It made me wonder if I live in a little sheltered life because none of this happens in my life.
If you want to go on a wild ride with Margot, definitely check this out. I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange, for my honest review

I've read every Rufi Thorpe novel and couldn't wait to screen this upcoming spicy summer release. Please note, I cannot stress enough that this book will NOT be for every reader but effectively paints a modern portrait of navigating the financial difficulties of teenage pregnancy in a way I have never seen before with moving honesty and a strong cast of oddball characters that I couldn't get enough of.

At nineteen, Margo knows that a relationship with her married professor isn't ideal, but she was never prepared to be a teenage mom. When she reveals the news and is encouraged to abort, in an act of defiance, she keeps the baby but discovers few resources to help support her through the early days of motherhood.

As Margo hasn't had any guidance from her mother, can't seem to find any childcare, and has little prospects for financial freedom, she realizes that the most unlikely solution- starting an account on OnlyFans might be the only way she can pay rent and care for her child.

What Thorpe documents is a savvy woman who realizes her storytelling power as she navigates building a fanbase, all while rendering some of the most relatable scenes of new motherhood that I've read. When she struggled with the car seat and navigated their first round of stomach flu, I felt those moments in every fiber of my body.

This story takes many turns you would expect from such an adult plotline, but what it says about women navigating single motherhood makes this an absolute showstopper. If a novel like this isn't to your reading taste, Dear Fang is a stunning coming-of-age story that I can't recommend enough. I'll never tire of Thorpe's writing or the way she seems unafraid to try new things with her stories.

Thank you to William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for a review!

After sleeping with her married college English professor, Margo finds herself pregnant and decides to keep it. After giving birth, she quits college, is fired from her job, and the baby daddy wants nothing to do with Margo or her baby, Bodhi. Margo’s former addict and WWE star father, Jinx, moves in with Margo to help raise Bodhi. With dwindling cash and limited options, Margo decides to start her own Only Fans account to make ends meet. As Margo’s success and bank account rises, her personal life takes a turn and her unconventional family unit is threatened.

I’m saying it now - this is going to be one of my FAVORITE books of 2024. The characters are fantastic - funny, flawed, and real. There were so many laugh out loud moments while still talking about serious subjects - drug addiction, toxic family dynamics, class issues, sex work. It was a super original plotline and very of our time and I could not put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC of Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe.

I absolutely relished in every page of this story! What a gift.

Rufi Thorpe’s writing is so sharp that it almost did not matter what I read - I found myself underlining passages because of their social acuity, such as, “Wanting something was usually a sign that you did not deserve it and would not be getting it, for example: moving to New York City and going to a fancy college like NYU. Conversely, the less you wanted to do something, the more likely it was that you should, like going to the dentist or doing your taxes.”
A simple truth but one not so easily articulated in life. There were many such observations in this book.

The narrative also captivated me, as I’d been somewhat of a “Margo” character in my younger life.
Only Fans was a far-future platform then; a resource of which I would definitely have tried to make use when younger.
I found the book’s premise of a young, financially-struggling yet fiercely intelligent outlier fascinating and turned the pages greedily. And I loved the fact that Margo’s famous father is the one to introduce the concept of the O.F. site to her, however innocently so.
She ponders the morality of sites like O.F. promoting sexuality: “She’d had a similar thought before, which was that if sex wasn’t shameful and being paid wasn’t shameful, then why was it shameful to have sex for money?”

Both her father Jinx - who is touchingly non-hypocritical regarding Margo’s entrepreneurial venture - and her mother Shyanne are blunt when it came to Margo. “‘Beauty is like free money,’ Shyanne used to say as she did Margo’s face.” Agrees Susie: “But money is power, Margo. And you’ve got it, baby.”
Margo receives her initial real-life education from them. She grows up prematurely and is a sympathetic character for it.
As is Jinx, who shows up for Margo physically, emotionally, and practically, helping her to become a corporation and a product by seeing the person she really is. (Personal bias: no parent of mine ever helped me in a such ways and reading this part made me sad for myself and happy for Margo.)

Margo is somehow both a realist and a philosopher. She sees a lot, and she questions everything. “It just feels fucked up to make an important decision based on something as stupid and made up as money.”

It is clear (to me) Margo is a “good person” (whatever that means; she is a complex human) despite her choice of actions. She preempts judgment of herself through those around her except for her supportive father.

She offers brilliant commentary on the invisible and obvious: “…she scrolled Twitter, which was like being bathed in the dirty water of other people’s thoughts.”

This book also illuminates the harsh reality of single-motherhood in poverty. Margo is a quotidian hero with all she must overcome to survive her new ruined life with baby Bodhi.

I loved Margo’s moments of physical female honesty without apology. “Margo had always been mildly gluttonous…”
Very few mediums seem to unapologetically admit to such a thing as a woman having a natural appetite for food, outside of stories about eating disorders.
“Kenny seemed delighted, as though it were novel for a girl to like chicken wings.”

This book also touches upon the complexities of parent/child relationships, especially as all adults. Margo is mature in her regard of her flawed parents, perceiving their respective vulnerabilities and touchingly loving them for them. I found her burgeoning relationship with fragile Jinx heartwarming.

In an aspirational way, I relished in the romance between Margo and JB. They are real people to each other online. “… if they were careful, they could use these messages like Ziploc bags to store reality itself.” (What gorgeous writing!)
I have been searching for that my entire life with no such success.

The book shows the fascinating mechanics of how quickly something “goes viral” on social media. Instant fame. It happens for Margo in one day and suddenly her money troubles are long forgotten. But what is the trade-off?

Social stigma, for one, a custody battle for another, and a loss of her mother’s support.

Sex work is compared to professional wrestling in that both use the body for entertainment in a financial transaction. One is socially condemned and one is revered, respectively. Both are art.

But then Jinx has had his own deviant Heroin addiction to deal with. Margo shows up for him.
They are both “white trash” together. They are both lonely human beings. “People are all so lonely.”

I absolutely hated when Margo capitulates and decides to quit her successful Only Fans job and pursue real estate, in order to socially conform.
I cheered when the custody report came in, in her favor, and she no longer needed to. And again when JB joins her and creates legitimacy both for her job and for their partnership.

Five stars!!!

This one took me a bit to get into but it was absolutely worth the effort. I loved and sympathized with the main character, 20-year old Margo, and her endless string of challenges, including an affair with her deadbeat professor to her pregnancy and baby, struggling to make ends meet, dealing with her mostly dysfunctional mother, reconnecting with her drug-addicted father, being “doxxed”, weathering a paternity suit and invasive visits from Child Protective Services. I cheered her creativity and was entertained by the storyline involving her “sex work” on the social media platform OnlyFans. This book doesn’t dwell on the issues but there are so many here that afford it a rich, authentic ambiance and give Margo plenty of opportunity to overcome adversity and shine.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thrope is a fantastic read and my first book by the author. This book is a true gem, filled with humor and heart. From the very first page, I was hooked by the witty writing and charming story-line. It’s a coming-of-age story of a young single mother, her journey to adulthood and self-discovery as she tries to find ways to support her infant son.

The main character, Margo, is a new mom struggling to navigate the world of first-time motherhood. At nineteen, Margo had a brief relationship with her much older English professor, resulting in a pregnancy. She goes against everyone’s advice and decides to keep the baby. Margo soon realized she’s not prepared for motherhood and doesn’t have the support new mothers need. Her biggest challenge is finding ways to financially support herself. For Margo, social media could be a solution to her problems.

This is a wonderfully entertaining book, with a cast of offbeat characters. The characters are well-developed, especially Margo’s dad, Jinx. It was wonderful watching them reconnect and develop a relationship. He became her support, helping with the baby despite dealing with his own issues. Along with her roommate Suzi, these three become a family unit supporting each other.

From the very beginning, I found myself rooting for Margo. She was forced to grow up quickly and face challenges that she was not prepared for. Despite this, she tackled each obstacle with determination and resilience. Her struggles and triumphs are portrayed realistically, making her situation realistic and relatable. Margo showed that even in the face of adversity, one can rise above and become a strong, independent individual. The author depicted real life situations that single mothers navigate every day and the choices they make to support their families. She also placed a spotlight on the way society judges those who have chosen to make their livelihood outside of the mainstream.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rufi Thrope and William Morrow for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wow - when I started this book I couldn’t have guessed it would be my first 5 star read of the year but here we are. “Margot’s Got Money Troubles” manages an impeccable balance of being laugh out loud funny while also yanking on your heart strings until a few tears slip out. This book is a journey of self-worth, what love really means, and finding meaning in stories whether they’re fully real or not. The cast of characters is a motley crew of chaos that feels like a car crash you can’t look away from - in the best possible way. The focus on the topic of sex work might not be for everyone which is something to keep in mind, but if you are open I really encourage you to give this book a shot. I will admit the constant back and forth perspective shift in the writing was a bit confusing at first and I almost wish it was explained just a tad bit earlier but it was explained early enough it didn’t pull anything away from the story for me. The journey Margo goes through is genuinely so beautiful and something I think will resonate with many, many readers. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

5 stars. What a smart, funny, and thought-provoking read. On it's surface, the plot of Margo's Got Money Troubles is delightfully bonkers. Margo is a college student who becomes pregnant with her married professor's baby. She decides to keep the baby, but because her baby daddy wants nothing to do with her and the baby, Margo ends up strapped for cash. Her recovering addict/ ex-pro WWE star wrestler father moves in to help with raising the baby and ameliorate some of her money concerns (but also, not really), but Margo decides to start an Only Fans account to help pay the bills. As a character, Margo was so real (on level with Taylor Jenkins Reid's ability to pen realistic characters), and the relationships in this book were so damn complex. Margo starts off a little young and naive, but grows up very very quickly, which I expect is something that happens when you have a kid at 20. And although the plot may seem a little wild and comical, which sure, it was, it was also so human. Most of the book really was about judgements (explicitly or implicitly) we as a society make against other humans-- what makes a good person, who deserves a good life. And I felt for Margo. FELT for her, because at the end of the day, all she really wanted was to be a good mom to her kid. And it certainly seemed like everyone in her world was conspiring to make that impossible. I had a really hard time putting this book down, and I can see it being very VERY well received.

A big BIG thank you to William Morrow/ Harper Collins, Thorpe, and netgalley for allowing me to read this one early in exchange for my honest review. I highly recommend and can totally see Margo's Got Money Troubles being one of my favorite reads of the 2024 (and yes, I'm saying that in January).

To be fair to this book, I didn’t really know what to expect, and I found the misanthropic and Margos plight as a young woman with zero support from her mother to be too tragic and sad for me.

I absolutely loved this book. Once I started it, I could not put it down and finished it over the course of the day, really only pausing to consider what I'd just read. The story is a fairly simple one: girl meets boy (her English professor), girl gets pregnant (and decides to keep it), girl tries to figure out what she's going to do next and discovers OnlyFans and Tiktok on her journey to self discovery. Enter her more-or-less estranged father, a cosplay loving roommate, and the sweetest baby and you have Margo's Got Money Troubles.

And still, it's so much more than that, just a peek into the world of this 20 year old who's trying to figure out life and her place in it. I loved the writing style of this book, I love the language and the way it was written, and I've been thinking about it nonstop since I devoured the last word at a little past 4 in the morning.

All this to say that I highly recommend, I already can't wait to read it again, and thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I LOVED IT.

I devoured this. Think it will be very popular. Wuick and fun read. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Love Margot! This is such a clever book. Rufi Thorpe has done it again. If you enjoy a book that makes you think while also laughing this will be a great read for you. Set in present day Southern California, it touches on issues of single parenthood, sex work, drug,culture. Ultimately it is a story of love and hope and family. Great! I found it a bit slower than earlier Thorpe but maybe it addresses more serious issues.

You know a book is enjoyable when you don't hate that your kid is insisting on cuddling with you from 2am-5:15am because you can read this book on your Kindle.

I really loved this book. I loved the character development, loved the shifting of point of view, and loved the entirely unique story line.

This was an ARC from NetGalley but definitely grab this as soon as you can.

A book outside my comfort zone, but one I enjoyed all the same. I don't know how to categorize it, maybe plain Literary Fiction touching upon some mature themes, sex work being a major one.

I found it very interesting how the MC is only 20. Still somewhat a teenager forced into adulting too quickly. I could see her maturity and frustration in the story, yet how she handles her situation, and her clarity of thought was commendable and had me hooked from the start. I love how her relationships are messy and complicated, the way they mold her as a person. I think Thrope did justice to all the side characters, showing bits of each person that bought the story together. I personally loved seeing Bodhi grow and gain more personality as the story progressed, making it that much more adorable and enchanting.

As I said, this isn't something I would generally pick up, and addictive writing style really helped with that. I mean this is the perfect example of a page turning novel that grabs your attention from the first line. Everything felt so raw and authentic, I'm genuinely in awe of the author. The POV was interesting to say the least, just mesmerizing! I loved the references to Margo's English class and how those may have impacted the experience.

On the topic of sex work, this opened my eyes to how normal and straightforward the job can be. Having recently watched "Gangubai Kathiawadi", a Bollywood movie and the real story of a sex worker's urge to introduce labor rights at the brothel. (If you liked the movie, you should try this book) It's also interesting how other aspects of Margo's life like her infant, her drug addict father, her mom's situation and the conflict with her ex-professor played into making her life the way it was.

I'm still processing my feelings about this book, but I know that I adored it. I'm happy starting my year with books like this one, so it's an easy recommend.

Weird and sad and hysterical and perfect. I highlighted many parts of this book, but to me this one sums it up. “She would never pay fifteen dollars to look at a guy naked. You could buy two, possibly three sandwiches for fifteen dollars.” Keep an eye out for Margo when the book comes out this summer.
(Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.)

I was a big fan of "The Knockout Queen" when I read it, and was thrilled to receive an e-ARC copy of Rufi Thorpe's upcoming novel "Margo's Got Money Troubles."

All together, I really enjoyed this book. I've never read a book from the POV of someone doing online sex work (Only Fans in this case) - the judgement, plus all the marketing and logistics that come with it, was really interesting to read about. I did wonder often if it was a tad unrealistic - the characters all had far more maturity than I think they would've in reality, the hard aspects of being a young mom to an infant with little to no support felt brushed over, and the book's conclusion was tied together in a bow a little too perfectly. That said, I was rooting for the characters, so I was fine with a happy ending.

The author also weaved in some areas where she used first person or third person for the main character Margo. I get that she was doing this because Margo attended a writing class about fictional characters and writing structure, but in the end the experimentation just felt unnecessary/unimpactful.

Even though I had critiques, this book was compulsively readable, and I found myself excited to return to it. Thanks Netgalley for the chance to review!

Pub Date: June 11, 2024.

This book is a star. From the first paragraph I was hooked. It managed to be literary, trashy and addictive all at once. I’ve enjoyed all of this authors books, but this one is my true love.

My first arc. Thanks NetGalley.
This was such a great book!! I really couldn’t put it down for a whole 2 days. I loved the characters/their flaws so much. Margo may just be one of my favorite characters from a book in a long time. This book is definitely worth a read, it’s funny, empowering and uplifting all in one! This is my first time reading from this author but definitely won’t be my last.