Review by rowanhill - Margo's Got Money Troubles

rowanhill 's review for:

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

5.0

challenging dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Features:

Explores themes around motherhood, what it means to have a choice, how society (and people) assign value, the blending of reality and fiction, acceptance, love, and complicated family dynamics.
A good balance of humor and heavier themes
Interesting and lovable characters despite their many flaws
A young, naive main character who grows in satisfying ways

This book was such a delightful surprise! The characters are all terribly flawed, but they are treated with such care and acceptance that you can’t help but love them (well…most of them). I was both surprised and impressed by how each of them were realized and the journey they went on together. Thorpe strikes that delicate balance between humor and drama just right so that the book never feels weighed down by the heavy themes it covers. I think some of the blurbs that make this sound like a comedy are misleading, but there are plenty of amusing moments. Readers who are looking for something to challenge their thinking and perspective without feeling too bogged down or who really like interesting characters will love this read!

Pro: Balancing the world on her shoulders

At the start of the book, Margo is a nineteen-year-old woman who begins an extramarital affair with her English professor Mark. This relationship ends with Margo becoming pregnant and deciding to keep the baby and the rest of the story unfolds from there. What really makes this story stand out for me is both how the story is approached and the clever use of lighthearted and warm moments to balance out the darker struggles.

Margo is naive in a way that can be frustrating, but also rings true for someone her age. Despite seemingly dire situations, Margo feels like she is in control, or at least self-aware, even if she doesn’t fully grasp the consequences. She has her fair share of breakdowns, but it never feels like she makes herself the victim of her own decisions and is always focused on next steps. This allows the book to explore its themes in ways I feel a lot of other books overlook. Margo’s dad, Jinx, fit into this equation in unexpected and delightful ways as well. Overall, there is a special human touch to the way the characters are realized and ultimately grow.

Admittedly, this book did not make me laugh out loud, though I found the humor clever it earned a few smiles from time to time. However, I feel like this is a good thing. There are plenty of weird/funny moments, but the book doesn’t feel like it is going out of its way to be funny or clever. As a result, the humor balances the rest of the story rather than getting in its way and overstaying its welcome. Even though it might not have spoken to my personal sense of humor, it was still very successful at adding the appropriate amount of levity to the story and that is a win in my book!

The Breakdown: Experimenting

The story is narrated by a future Margo looking back on this time in her life. For reasons that are explained early on in the book, the storytelling bounces back and forth from first person to third person. Every change picks up right where the last one leaves off, it is not to indicate a shift between past and present Margo. I appreciate the play on perspective, but the results were mixed. When done at the right moments, it was really effective. However, many of the moments were quite right or Margo would shift the perspective in order to have a fourth wall break that wasn't really necessary. Though you get used to the shifts, they are a little jarring at first.

The only other nitpick I have is that Margo goes on a couple of philosophical tangents that I don’t feel quite align with what we know about her experiences. For example, Margo talks about feeling pressure to have the baby in order to be a ‘good person’ and goes on a tangent about women not being allowed to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It makes it sound like Margo was being pressured or forced to have Bodhi when, in fact, everyone close to her at the time encouraged her to terminate her pregnancy. She definitely felt social pressure, but nothing she experiences quite aligns with what she expresses in this tangent.

Content Warnings