Margo’s got a lot going on. At just 19 years old, she’s a single mom with no support system. Yeah, when you have a baby, they actually just kick you out the door with no idea what you’re doing and say, “Have a nice day!” But it’s okay, Margo’s got this! Until she realizes that finding child care is practically impossible for the night shift. And her roommates don’t appreciate a crying baby, so they leave and stick her with all the rent because she never put their names on the lease. Her mom won’t help, her dad is MIA, and the baby’s father hit her with an NDA. What’s a girl to do? Find a brilliant solution, of course! But not everyone agrees with Margo’s plan, but does it matter what everyone else thinks? Because, like it or not, Margo’s Got Money Troubles in Rufi Thorpe’s hit novel.
[Warning: My review of Margo’s Got Money Troubles contains some spoilers!]
Reality hits Margo hard in Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Margo isn’t really sure how she ended up having an affair with her English professor. He wanted to have one, and Margo is the kind of girl who just goes with the flow, so the next thing she knew, she was sleeping with the teacher. Then she found out she was pregnant, and he just assumed she was having an abortion without even talking to her about it. Her mother, her best friend, everyone just assumed she’d have an abortion. Margo herself kinda assumed the same thing. Until everyone else assumed it. And suddenly, for the first time in her life, Margo decided not to go with the flow. Everyone insisted she was ruining her life and, in the same breath, declared a complete lack of support for her (thereby making it that much more likely that her life would be ruined).
But Margo had Bodhi (her son) anyway. Then reality hit. Margo couldn’t find childcare that was available during her evening shift. The few people she tried were horrible, and she ended up being fired. Then two of her roommates decided they didn’t want to put up with a crying baby and moved out, leaving her and her other roommate with the entire rent. She signed up for unemployment and welfare, but that didn’t even come close to meeting her and Bodhi’s needs. Her mother told her to kick rocks, more concerned with what her boyfriend would think about Margo than with helping her (even though her mother had also been a single mom as the result of an affair). The baby’s father doesn’t even answer her, really. He just sends Mommy Dearest and a lawyer to her, offering Bodhi some cash and a small trust fund if Margo signs an NDA and goes away.
Margo didn’t know what to do when her dad suddenly showed up on her doorstep and, well, okay, he didn’t save the day, but he was the catalyst that led to the day being saved. First, he’s great with kids! He starts helping with childcare duties, and that helps relieve some of Margo’s stress. And by amazing coincidence, he’s looking for a place to stay and is offering to help with the rent! Margo still needs an actual job, though. Surprisingly, Dad offers inspiration there too.
Margo’s Dad used to be a pro wrestler, and he’s still very in touch with that world. He mentions, as they’re watching a match one night, that the female wrestler has an OnlyFans site that the league wanted her to shut down, but she refused because it made more for her than wrestling ever did.
Margo’s never heard of OnlyFans, so her dad gives her a quick summary of what it is. Margo is intrigued and starts to investigate. Then she figures “why not?” and tries it herself. To her shock, guys subscribe! But she knows that if she wants to actually make money, she has to do more. Armed with her dad’s pro wrestling experience, her own creativity, and some new friends, Margo figures out how to play the system and make bank. Now she can support her son and be around to see him. But not everyone is happy about how she’s making her money. From her mom, to her mom’s boyfriend, to her baby’s dad, to CPS, they all have something to say about it. Now Margo isn’t just worried about supporting her son; she’s worried about losing him. And it all started because of some money trouble…
A hilarious book that looks at a disgusting truth
Thorpe is hilarious. Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a little edgy at times, but it had me laughing my butt off. But it also made me mad as hell. Because who were all these people to judge Margo? No one wanted to help her when she needed it, they all told her to figure it out herself, it was her problem. So she did, and she did a great job. But suddenly all these people who didn’t want anything to do with her get to come in and tell her that what she’s doing is wrong? WTF? That’s having your cake and eating it too. If you don’t want to be part of the solution, don’t complain about the solution that’s found without you.
But what’s sad about it all is that Margo and her money troubles might not be real, but this reality is. There is no real support system for new mothers. If you have one in place, that’s great, but you’ll need to set it up on your own. Otherwise, the hospital really does just send you on your way with this tiny little life and no idea what you’re doing. If you can’t find child care, your problem. If you lose your job, your problem. But if someone doesn’t like how you solve that problem, you really can lose your child, even if you’re not actually doing anything wrong or endangering them. It’s beyond crazy. Thrope’s book shines a big, huge light on this societal failing. In Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Margo is able to overcome her troubles, with happy endings all around. But that’s not always the case in real life. It’s something that I hope readers (and watchers of the Apple TV show based on the book) will think about.
An overlooked point of view
There are lots of books about teens, and lots of books about young adults, but I feel like Margo’s little slice of “technically an adult, but numerically still a teenager” demographic is often skipped over. It’s a really gray area of life. You’re a teenager, but you’re an adult. Your brain is far from fully developed, yet you get to make decisions that will change the course of your whole life without any outside input. It’s a weird time.
Margo finds it so weird that she sometimes has to distance herself from it. It’s not entirely clear how old Margo, the narrator, is; we just know it’s a Margo in the future. Most of her story is told in first person, but occasionally she slips into third person. Thorpe has a reason for this; some of the story is still too hard for Margo to deal with, so she distances herself. But let me tell you something I didn’t know before this book: It’s annoying when the narrator switches between first and third person! It kept me from fully engaging with Margo until quite far in, because it just grated on my nerves whenever there was a point-of-view change. I guess I understand the author’s choice, but I definitely don’t like it.
Still, I love the story beneath the annoying point-of-view changes. If you get past that, and I imagine most people aren’t as fussy as I am and will, then Margo’s story is harrowing, hilarious, heartbreaking, and inspiring. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be glad you read it. What more can you ask for in a book (except for maybe a stable point of view?).
Rating: 8/10
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe is available now!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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