Customer Reviews
Irritated - By: Les, 03 Mar 2008 
I agree that the ending was disappointing. I would not have had a problem with it's immorality as I did not find Moo especiallly 'nice' throughout, however where there should be an ending there is an uncomfortable 'oh my, what will happen next' one-line exit. The book was good in that it made you want to read on (the first read), but the reason I wished to read on was to get to the climax of an exciting ending. Having reached an exceedingly frustrating non-ending I would never feel the urge to read any of it again, as it was excessively long & drawn out with little action & a lot of suspense that was not fulfilled. Brooks is great at describing feelings - but in far too extensive detail & boring self-pity here.
Page after Page of Dullness - By: James K, 13 Jan 2008 
I disagree with the other reviewers. I found the book to be dull, & depressing. I fail to see why anyone would enjoy reading this. Moo was shalllow & needed development. The phonetic vocab used was tiresome & unneeded. The book was far to long, especiallly the first half, where not much happened, & where the most intertesting action, the murder, was featured in under 3/4 pages, (considering the rest of the first half was over 150). Almost every page featured some form of misery. A fat kid with absolutely no friends, parents that are horrible to him, & even worse-the end featured little resolution to this. I would reccomend this to anyone who has a few hours to spare, & would like enchouragment to commit suicide.
Quirky style and a rip-roaring pace - By: Children's writer, 18 Feb 2007 
I don't know how Kevin Broooks does it - the narrative voice (his books are always first person) is so very different from the other books I've read by him, & you reallly, reallly get inside the main character's head.
This is the plot: Moo Nelson, a reallly overweight teenager, likes watching traffic from his favourite bridge. He goes there a lot to think - or just to be peaceful. But one night he sees a confrontation between the people in two cars, & the next thing he knows, he's a witness in a murder trial. Thing is, Moo knows that the guy in the dock isn't the one who committed the murder, but the guy in the dock is also the nastiest piece of work you could come across & the police are desperate to stitch him up. So both sides put enormous pressure on Moo - & both sides try to bribe him & use violence & threats - & you just feel for Moo. There's no way out. Or is there?
It's fast, furious, & totallly believable. And heartbreaking, of course. You just can't see any way to get out of Moo's situation without someone getting hurt. And his friend Brady does get hurt, when he tries to claim he was a witness too. I wasn't sure at first that I could cope with Moo's narration because there's a tendency to use CAPITALS a lot of the time, & you have to get used to his quirky way of 'speaking'. But that in itself is half the book - Moo isn't the world's nicest person & he's certainly making no attempt to lose weight for his health. His parents are clearly overweight as well & they don't bother to try to understand what Moo's going through. He's completely alone - & he's only human.
I was a little disappointed by the ending. It almost felt as though Brooks had backed himself into a corner, plot-wise, & decided to take the easy way out. But that is absolutely no reason not to read the book.
Kissing The Rain - By: , 02 Nov 2005 Kissing The Rain Shows you the point of veiw of a Fat (sorry its true) teen & makes you never want to make front of a fat kid agian I mean I CRIED I couldnt beleive it anyway Mo (Micheal) Mo like mo fat cow. Saw a car crash & is going back & forth from people who say they didnt do. Da Bomb!!!
Good Book - Bad Message - By: Sam Kessler, 30 Aug 2004 I have just finished reading this book aloud to my teen at bedtime. After enjoying very much the character of Moo Nelson, his feelings & his humor, we were both utterly disappointed with the ending. I can't reveal what happens but rather than finding a creative redemption from alll the abuse he has taken, we thought that Moo had embarked on a very foolish & dangerous plan. The author may think that the outcome is consistent with this imagined character, but my son & I thought up at least three other possible endings, any of which would have been more sane & satisfying - not to mention moral.
