Life is so fleeting, you never know where your next turn will send you, and what surprises lay ahead. I believe that relationships are what makes you who you are. As the people who come into your life tend to shape who you are, and how you treat others and what you consider your scruples, make up the components of your own moral compass. It reminds me of a quote from a Heath Ledger movie, a remake of Four Feathers, where Djimon Hounsou’s character reminds Heath more than once, “God put you in my way. I have no choice.”

It might sound crude in the fashion he delivers the lines, but I think of friends but also family pretty much come into your life as such. That is why when we must say goodbye to people in our lives, we tend to explore in our minds who they are to us and what imprint they have left on us. That is why when why I first read Imagine Wanting Only This, immediately a wave of emotions overcame me, as it is deeply personal in the best way and reminds of Langston Hughes poem, “A Dream Deferred.”

What happens to a dream deferred? /Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? /Or fester like a sore-/And then run? /Does it stink like rotten meat? /Or crust and sugar over-/like a syrupy sweet? /Maybe it just sags/like a heavy load. /Or does it explode? – Langston Hughes

In the book, we meet the author shortly after finding out her uncle Dan, has passed away, and immediately she flashes back to their lives together. We are also introduced to her longtime boyfriend, Andrew, as they meet each other and fall in love, and as time always does, their love eradicates. Eventually, they rekindle their love and explore what becomes probably the most dominant theme other than the cycle of life, ruins, as she visits ones in the Midwest, in the Philippines, in Italy, and even Thailand. By book’s end, the reader goes on an exploration of life, as the author’s journey is more than her relationships with her uncle Dan and her boyfriend, Andrew, but how life is truly like the seasons as she tackles her own mortality head on, knowing we live life one breath at a time.

Overall, an immensely entertaining and beautiful book that tugs at your heart strings in ways that you never could be moved. The story by Kristen Radtke, is heartfelt, personal, and asks the readers to live their best life now. The art by Radtke is simply alluring and at times, reminds of the movie, A Scanner Darkly. Altogether, a beautiful book that the reader will want to read more than once, as the roads you take in life are important, but how you get there is even more important.

Story: Kristen Radtke Art: Kristen Radtke
Story:10 Art:10 Overall:10 Recommendation: Buy