One Hundred Days of Happiness by Fausto Brizzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a journey in itself. I just cannot find enough words to explain how this book so perfectly brought me along on Lucio's journey.

Perhaps one of the things I loved most is Brizzi's humour. The character of Lucio occasionally interacts with the reader, and sometimes, gives the reader a chance to think about what they would do. It may sound confusing, but read this book and you'll understand. Actually, I'd recommend this book to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU .

As with most great pieces, I bought this book simply because the synopsis at the back sounded intriguing enough for me to decide to give it a go. That, and I had been looking for excuses to buy more books. (Because of course, right?) From the get-go, you're taken into Lucio Battistini's life through his eyes. And as we all do, Lucio takes his life for granted and has never really stopped to appreciate his life and what he has.
Until he finds out he only has 100 days to live.
Then he goes on a journey to make up for everything that he has done/never done, and basically put right everything he has to before the time comes.

The story has a fairly light tone to it, all things considered; that is, until the last weeks when reality hits hard and Lucio realises that the end is very much nearing quickly.
Then things start getting steadily and understandibly heavier, taking on a more sombre tone.

As expected, the parting did me in. Some may argue that it may have been a bit predictable, but it didn't dampen the effect whatsoever. It's been a while since I actually cried reading a book (the last time probably being the last Mitch Albom novel I read, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto), and twice I had to stop so I could actually continue reading.

All in all, this is a brilliant work from Brizzi, and I would love to read all of his translated books. This will definitely be one of my more treasured books, hands down.

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