Reader's Reviews: Reflections From the Other Side

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September 25, 2025

This Book will Hold You

This small volume is a poem or maybe even a prayer. As someone who has had a long life in the 12-step tradition, to me, it feels so much like the embodiment of the Twelfth Step, the Spiritual Awakening. I read it in one sitting, and I would recommend this for people who want to feel the book, because it comes right out of the pages. I think the absence of description-names, places, things-gives you room to experience the book's message for your life. It holds you, which is what Rob Quinn did for himself (as he is/ was held by his therapist), and what he hopes that you will do for yourself.  

- Jeppi Veseti - Amazon

September 21, 2025

Growth

No matter what you need to accomplish, this book motivates you to achieve those goals. Especially if a person feels there is no hope, if you take one step at a time, you will make it through. - Carolyn Marie Baatz - Amazon

September 18, 2025

A definite must read for anyone facing a life challenge. 

The book is an easy read and short, but it packs a powerful punch that will help you get across the street. I am honored to know Rob and I am always amazing at his resilience, passion, compassion and his steadfast commitment to help those who are struggling through life's situations.

Congratulations Rob and I am honored to be part of your journey! Blessings upon you! - 

Paul Goulet - Amazon

September 12, 2025

A must read

On the Other Side of the Street is more than a book — it's a mirror for anyone who has experienced addiction, loss, or has felt broken and unsure of how to move forward. Rob shares his story, an outstretched hand and a reminder: you weren't meant to stay at the curb. If you're ready to take even one small step into the unknown — or if you're simply looking for the courage to try — this book will help you along your journey. - Denise Dowers - Amazon 

September 8, 2025

A personal story and a blueprint for surviving addiction 

Rob Quinn has written a book, spare and poetic and heartfelt, in which he chronicles his fearful struggles with his AIDS diagnosis and addiction and also offers a way up from such despair, which is informed by his professional expertise as well as his experience. - Ann B. Elwood  - Amazon

September 7, 2025

The Light Within

Telling one’s story is never easy. It requires strength and courage to share the most intimate moments—times of making mistakes, feeling stuck, losing hope, and wondering if you will ever find your way out. Quinn’s book reveals how the spark within us may dim, but it never burns out completely. This is truly a book of hope—one that guides us back toward our inner light. - Brian Salvaggio - Amazon

September 3, 2025 

What a beautiful, important book...

This warm hearted and original book is a powerful testament to the possibility of recovery from addiction, grief, loss, illness, separation, and any other of life's tribulations. The author writes directly to his reader as if in an intimate conversation filled with support and encouragement on every step of their journey. It's an enormously healing book that can be read and reread with ease.  - 

Charlotte Meehan - Amazon

August 31, 2025

No Lectures, Just Answers Quinn's candid memoir of recovery from a successful life flattened by HIV and addiction is a must-read for anybody reeling from any devastating life change. His 4-R approach to stepping off the curb after a shock and into an unknown future, is gentle, honest and effective. This is no sermon, no changeless map or flowery promise. Quinn's 4-R approach is simply real. 

— Abbie Padgett - Amazon

August 29, 2025

Powerful Journey of Recovery and Resilience

Rob Quinn's memoir is incredibly moving and honest. His journey through HIV, grief, and addiction to 18 years of sobriety isn't sugarcoated. He shows the real work it takes to rebuild your life.

His message about being honest about who you are really resonated. The book's central metaphor of leaving "the curb" to cross to "the other side of the street" perfectly captures choosing to actively change your life instead of staying stuck.

Perfect for anyone dealing with addiction, loss, or major life challenges--or supporting someone who is. Rob shows you're never too far gone to come back to yourself.

— Mark M. - Amazon

August 29, 2025

 Read it, you won't regret it. 

ANYBODY that's struggling with ANYTHING, should read this book! It makes you stop and realize that people are going through/or have gone through, more than you could ever imagine, and to treat people with respect and to give them grace. I'm so proud of all the things he's overcome and happy that he continues to persevere all things life throws at him today. — Stephanie  - Amazon

August 28, 2025

"On the Other Side of the Street is more than a memoir—it’s an invitation. Rob Quinn writes with a voice that is at once raw, reflective, and deeply human, guiding readers through the heartbreak of loss, the struggle of rebuilding, and the courage it takes to step into the unknown.

The book begins with the metaphor of sitting at the curb, a place of stillness and uncertainty many of us know all too well. From there, Quinn traces his own journey through rock bottom moments, the slow work of recovery, the building of resilience, and the ultimate reinvention of a life filled with meaning and purpose. His storytelling is both intimate and universal: while rooted in his personal experience, every chapter speaks to anyone who has had to let go of the familiar in order to discover what’s waiting ahead.

What makes this book stand out is Quinn’s ability to balance honesty with hope. He doesn’t shy away from the realities of illness, addiction, grief, and identity loss—but he never leaves the reader stranded there. Instead, he models what it looks like to take one small step at a time, crossing from despair toward possibility.

The writing is warm and conversational, as if Quinn is walking beside you rather than preaching from a distance. He offers reflections and lessons that feel earned through lived experience, not borrowed from theory or cliché. Readers will find themselves pausing, underlining, and even rereading passages that feel like they were written just for them.

At its heart, On the Other Side of the Street is a story of courage—the courage to move forward when standing still feels safer, and the courage to believe that the curb is not the end of the road. Rob Quinn’s journey becomes a mirror, showing us that no matter where we are, it is never too late to begin again.

Highly recommended for anyone navigating change, grief, recovery, or reinvention—and for those who simply need a reminder that transformation always begins with a single step forward.”    — Anonymous Review.

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