Ultimately, I found Margo's story endearing. Margo is an admirable character who easily gets the reader to fall in love with her. Despite all the craziness surrounding her, Margo's love for her baby son Bodhi is all-consuming.

An enjoyable easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

A fun and thought-provoking novel about 19-year-old Margo, who turns to OnlyFans in order to make some cash after finding herself pregnant by her married college professor. Ignoring everyone's advice, Margo decides to keep the baby.
Overall, this is a humorous, heartfelt, and insightful read. If you like stories that are both entertaining and meaningful, then you’ll love this book!

everyone tells Margo not to have the baby. after all, she has no money, she’s only 19, and the father is her married professor. but Margo won’t be told, and even with the help of her LARPing roommate Suzie and her ex-pro-wrestler father Jinx, she’ll need to be ingenious. her solution? OnlyFans.

this novel is so funny that i almost didn’t notice how good it was. it explores sexuality, Internet culture, addiction, and parenthood: Margo’s parenthood, of course, but also her complicated, loving, and often damaging relationships with her own parents, including Jinx, who’s unlike any other father i’ve seen depicted. her sex work is depicted as glorious and freeing but also incredibly hard, as well as the constant demands of a newborn baby, and its effects on her online life are enormous. the only thing stopping this book from being 5 stars for me was its shifting perspective, from first to third person, seemingly at random: while the story explains this as exploring perspective and subjectivity, this idea was much less rich than the other themes of the book, and since i couldn’t find a clear reason for each shift, it just felt random and distracting. other than that, though, i absolutely adored this book.

thank you netgalley for this review copy!

This was a strange book but an entertaining one. It was a cross between a teen coming of age, Only Fans/Wrestling and online marketing!

Margo has a relationship with her college teacher and falls pregnant. She leaves college and raises him alone and inevitably struggles with work and childcare leading her to Only Fans.

I really enjoyed this book and the wild array of characters from Jinx, Margo's pro wrestling day, Suzy her cosplay flatmate and Shyanne her mum who worked in Hooters but hides her gambling and drinking from her evangelical new husband, Kenny.

It was a fun read although I felt a little let down by the ending.

I didn't enjoy this one, I'm afraid. I don't know if it is because I read it after quite a dark novel or not, but it seemed a but too much. Penis shaped cakes on the first page are a bit much!

I'm sure it will be a success as this genre is normally very popular, but it wasn't for me.

Margo’s Got Money Problems is an intelligent, refreshing, and thought provoking read.

Watching Margo adapt to her new life of motherhood, her complicated relationships with her parents and friends, and her changing identity teetered closely to desperately uncomfortable. However the author’s enigmatic, warm and hilarious writing gave such an insight into Margo’s experience that the discomfort was balanced with a sense of empowerment, empathy and hope.

I adored the switching between third and first person, and the corresponding reflections on art and truth. The Only Fans storyline felt important and captured the double standards in socially so well. Overall I found this to be such a thought provoking, engrossing and witty read, and would highly recommend.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this audiobook. Opinions expressed are my own.

I literally cannot put this book down. I am positively in love with Margo. Rufi Thorpe really knows how to tell a story and her writing is so crisp, so fresh, so compelling. Best read in a very long time. Easily 5 Stars.

This is the first time in a long time I've stayed up late to finish a book!

Margo is nineteen when she finds herself pregnant by her college professor. Everyone around her, especially this man, encourages her not to keep the baby. But she wants to! So she does. Soon after he's born she's fired from her job for not having a reliable babysitter (her mum doesn't think the baby likes her ?? and won't spend time with him) and she starts to scramble for money.

This coincides with her dad's return to her life. He's an ex-pro wrestler who was never around and is just getting out of rehab. He moves in with Margo and her roommate and it turns out he's a very doting grandfather. Margo still needs money though so she decides to start an OnlyFans.

God I had such a good time with this. Margo is understandably a bit of a mess who is so easy to root for. She has been let down a lot by the adults in her life and despite that she very quickly takes to motherhood and her baby boy adores her. I thought her dad, Jinx, was a real standout character. Even knowing that he is pretty much a deadbeat dad it's so hard not to like, or at least sympathise with him.

There's a really important storyline regarding the rights of sex workers, particularly OnlyFans workers. How these women are degraded and stigmatised despite the obvious demand for their labour. Sex work is work! And I was glad to see that's the stance the author too with the book.

These are characters I won't forget in a hurry and a story that is warm despite everything it tackles.

an honest & reflective breath of fresh air. this story is humorous and heartwarming, exploring the life of margo, a young woman navigating adulthood, motherhood & social media. i love how careful certain elements were discussed & often any discomfort would be disguised with humour, with a strong focus on themes of self-discovery, empowerment, and the power of storytelling. you can truly tell how much thorpe loves the character of margo, shown through how much care they put into her story & character, making the reader share that love & empathy. it’s so refreshing that a female protagonist, who yes made bad decisions, still comes across as relatable & completely real. throughout the book obviously she was a mess at points, but as a reader i completely understood her actions even if i didn’t always agree with them, seeing her as more of a friend that i was hearing a life story from. such a fun & lighthearted book that deals & explores complicated themes expertly.

Margot’s got money Troubles but she’s also a bad ass, strong independent mother who goes for what she wants. Margot is an inspiration, truly.

I’m one of those people who goes into a story not reading the synopsis or having any clue really of the plot and this was such a rollercoaster for me. I had no idea where the story was going or what was going to happen to our much loved main character, Margot but honestly I ate it up. I truly loved every second of this book and found myself thinking about Margot even when I was going about my day as if she was a friend. I also love that it brought up OnlyFans and the way people could potentially get into this line of work and what it might entail as I still feel like there’s such a taboo ideology around it.

I also love the undercurrent of ‘if you’re going through this, here’s what you can do’.

This book was anxiety inducing in the best possible way. The way Thorpe built up her characters so you felt like you knew them personally was beautifully done. I have genuinely never rooted for a character like Margot more that I did for a very long time. Reading about the different challenges she faced and managed to overcome as a teenage mother was so empowering and I just fell in love with her character and her willingness. Her father was a character I never thought I’d love either and wow, was I charmed. Just like I imagine people would be in real life meeting him. And suzie, I have to give that girl a shoutout for being there from the very start. We all need a suzie in our life!

Margot, Bodhi, Jinx and Suzie will stay with me for a while.

If you were a fan of the ‘Maid’ series on Netflix I feel like you’d love this.

Also, mini spoiler… that last line… perfect ending.

‘Because that’s all art is, in the end. One person trying to get another person they have never me to fall in love with them.’


To confirm; a review has been submitted to Amazon and Waterstones but can take up to 4 days to post!

Margo’s got money problems but Margo is also an intelligent, caring, powerhouse of a person. This is story is nuanced and relevant - I loved it from page one. Margo I admire you (and you’re not even real).

Margo, 19, pregnant college student. Father of said baby was her English professor but she’s no longer enrolled in college. People who told her to get an abortion = everyone (except her Dad). People who help her with said baby = no one (except her Dad). She’s got to earn a living in a childcare friendly way. So when she hears about Only Fans it seems like the perfect fit but everyone else has a lot to say about it..

This is the kind of book where I need you to get a comfy seat because I will take a long time telling you how much I loved it. Lucky for those of you who don’t know me in person I’ll keep it brief here. (But it really is that good).

The writing flits between third and first person which I think will be a rather marmite issue - but personally I loved it. There are a lot of meta references in the story and I think the reflection in form was genius.

Margo cries but doesn’t whine. Her life is really hard but also full of joy. She is a complete character, she feels like a person and a bloody impressive one.

The OnlyFans opens up a conversation about the shame-power loop of sexually active women. It’s angering. It’s a relevant conversation.

This book is pro-choice - Margo CHOSE to have the baby. And by doing ‘the right thing’ demonstrates that once you have said baby the help you’re offered to raise them is pitiful.

Beautifully written, informative, sensitive, sad and often funny this is a work of art.

Thank you #netgalley and @HodderBooks and @HodderPublicity for my #arc

Margo's got money troubles, it not your typical story line, it goes through the hardship Margo goes through when she ends up pregnant from her college professor. She decides to keep the baby, so ends up quitting college. Then she has to try and make ends meet for her and her son. Her father moves in to help her with child care, she then trues to doing video online to earn a living, and ends up with loads of fans following her. She has one fan who asked if she will write to her, she agrees to this, but most the things she is saying to him is not correct and she doesn't mention about having a son. In the end she agrees to meet the fan in person. The cover of the book gives an impression on how Margo but have been feeling.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
This book took me on a JOURNEY. The story started as just some quirky fun but by the end it had a grasp on my heart and would simply not let go. I felt love for Margo, I felt stress on her behalf, I felt pain, I felt fear, I felt relief, I felt it all.
I am such a fan of the small ways in which this book fights to de-stigmatise so many things at once - single motherhood, sex work, drug addiction. And it did it in such a charming way! Margo, Jinx, Bodhi, Suzie, they have my whole heart.

I have to say I am not a fan of the whole ‘change of pronouns thing’ - I get the point it was trying to make (i think) and the parallel it was making with Mark’s literature classes and the way Margo approached events in her life and understood her identity (real and fake) but I think it was unnecessary when the story itself was so honest and full of heart. It didn’t add much and couldn’t really back itself up and so came across as more performative and pretentious than it intended.
I’m also not a fan of JB - his whole storyline is the only one that felt unrealistic and he came across as more of a plot device than a real person - which is a stark difference to every other character in this book.

But overall I was completely absorbed and enamoured by this story. I went into it completely blind and I’m glad I did - it payed off by giving me the most delightful evening of reading (and I suppose the fact I read this in one day is compliment enough!!)

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the eARC of this book.

Margo's Got Money Troubles
By Rufi Thorpe

I 100% gave into FOMO when I requested this ARC based on the amazing feedback my readerly community were giving it. The premise of a teenage mother, with an addict/ former pro wrestler Dad, who starts an Onlyfans creator account sounded too trashy for my taste, and even the first few chapters felt a little YA, but I double checked to ensure I had the same novel they were all taking about, and then white knuckled it through the next few chapters ( they are very short), and before I knew it, I too was indeed hooked.

I'm so glad I pushed through my aversion to certain tropes because not only did this book surprise the heck out of me with it's delightfully nuanced characters and exquisitely devised tension points, it made me seriously consider the amount of judgement and bias I hold onto when it comes to moral grey areas.

It did not take long for me to get over the YAness, because this is a story of personal growth, not just for Margo, but for most of the people around her. Yes, I wanted to slap her for some of the awful decisions she was making, but I also wanted to hold her tight and protect her from all the crap that life threw her.

I particularly love the relationship between Margo and her Dad, Jinks, who might be one of my favourite characters this year (apologies to my now-grown sons for all the terrible things I said about one of their childhood obsessions).

I like this author's style and I am definitely going to try something from her backlist.

Highly recommend for readers of all tastes and ages.

Publication date: 4th July 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #HodderBooks for the ARC

Unfortunately I had some issues with the copy I received and struggled to read 95% of any texts, emails, letters etc. some of which I feel would have added to the storyline.

Generally easily a 4.5* read, listed as 4* due to the issues with the formatting.

I found Margo such a lovable character and found myself really feeling for her in the hard moments and smiling with her when things went well. The struggles and feelings all felt so real, and i loved the way the story was told.

If i had to pick any flaws out of this book I would say the ending felt rushed. The main storyline had so much build-up, suspense and genuine concern for the outcome, and it seemed as if the ending was an attempt to wrap everything up short and sweet.

I would recommend this book.

19 year old Margo Miller’s got money troubles. She’s found herself pregnant with her married college professors baby, who doesn’t want to know. Margo tries to navigate life as a twenty year old with a newborn, and begins an OnyFans in order to make some cash.
This had so much more to the story than the blurb, from navigating life as a single parent, to trying to reconnect with family and addiction struggles. Hilarious at times, and so heartwarming at others. A genuinely lovely book, with very well written characters that added a lot of depth to the story. I rooted for Margo and little Bodhi the whole way through, my heart breaking along with her at certain points. Also, who knew Pokemon descriptions could be so hilarious?!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sceptre for an Ecopy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

It begins with the conception of Bodhisattva, Bodhi for short. Margo becoming pregnant by her college professor is certainly an awakening but not one he sought. Margo keeps the baby and by default not the professor, or her college career. At the beginning of the book we find our FMC pushing a turd out on the birthing table. That's right Margo drops a motherload before motherhood.

There’s an extraordinary fixation with poop in this book but not in a fetish way. In a book with no holds barred, it feels almost prudish to clarify this. Still, perhaps you will not think the number of motions remarkable but regular, and the preoccupation with poop talk rests with me, but I assure you not in a fetish way.

Up to the point where the poop hits the table Margo bases her entire life decisions on ideas and desires so the realities of a world with a newborn come as a genuine surprise. She has no means to provide for an infant, her support system is a narcissistic mom on the make, and a deadbeat dad ex-pro wrestler who can teach you the art of talking (and taking) smack. When we meet Margo she intuitively talks about herself in the third person as a kind of coping strategy as if all this is happening to someone else.

Through this ability to detach from reality, and in dire need of cash, she explores the idea of OnlyFans. Gradually we see Margo become a confident young woman not afraid to defy societal norms and her ideas and desires align with her realities and first-person identity.

The book is hilarious, smartly written, with a cast of babyface and heels straight out of WWE storylines that will have you simultaneously cheering and booing. If you loved Big Swiss by Jen Beagin this will be your cup of mushroom tea! It’s about doing it your way no matter what the world says and making the most of what you’ve got. It addresses cancel culture, slut shaming and sex positivity in the most wonderful FMC you can’t help but want to win. In the words of Ric Flair, quoted by Margo “to be the man, you gotta beat the man” Wooooooo!!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the proving the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book telling of a young lady Margo who winds up pregnant and unable to financially support herself. She turns to an unorthodox way to earn money fast, but will it lead to everything falling apart? The writing was so good in this book, a real page turner which I devoured in less than 2 days. Would read this author again.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unexpectedly brilliant - honestly couldn't put it down. Enjoyed that it was a little shorter than expected, perfect for recommending for readers who are short on time or need something to grab their attention. Raised some fascinating questions about women, sex work & motherhood - as well as being fantastically written and super creative.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the changing points of view a little confusing in the beginning until I got used to it but it didn't detract from this interesting read. I really liked the character of Margo and her dad and her friend Suzie.