I had high hopes that College Girl, Missing was going to highlight some new information, make formerly undiscussed connections, or just give me anything new and positive. As a former Bloomington resident, I feel like the city and campus were misrepresented. Example: he referred to one fraternity as the only Jewish chapter and that is just a false statement if you are trying to capture Btown now and in the past. My bigger problem with this book is that the author tries to justify his initial coverage of the case as just sharing the facts when he was really just writing pieces with scandalous, borderline irrelevant details to make his articles interesting and stand out to benefit his career. I appreciate that a book has been written about Lauren and maybe this will shine more light on her personal story and case but this is not a book I will be encouraging other to read.

I’m interested in seeing if there is any fallout once the book is released and the boys are once again thrown into the spotlight. Excellent writing but unfortunately it gets very boring in parts just due to the nature of the book. It’s hard to not get lost in the some of the very confusing details. I remember when Lauren went missing and would hope that someone would come forward and provide her parents with some answers.

This book is advertised and presented that new information has come to life and revolving around Lauren’s disappearance. While the author did get new students/peers of Lauren to talk / there was much new info given to him.

I felt this book spent an unnecessary amount of time talking about the author and what he was doing in his career etc.

I left this book confused why it was even written to be honest because nothing new or promising really came to light through the pages.

Being a true story, my heart breaks for this family as Lauren’s body has never been found so it’s unknown what truly happened to her.

This was a good true crime read that’s still an open case without a real resolution.
I would have liked to delve into the 2011 scene that would give a better background to how different life is than now. It still shows the true danger of being alone at night for women, especially those under the influence. Hopefully it’s an awakening for anyone that reads to be aware and always be cautious.

I liked this book and thought it was very well written, but I had a lot of trouble remembering who everyone was and their connection to Lauren.

Thanks for the ARC!

This was interesting, but if I'm being honest, more so because of the mystery than the writing.

We get a recap of the facts in part one, which are truly curious and interesting. It's pretty obvious someone is lying, knows something and won't reveal it. Then the whole remainder of the book is spent spiraling around these facts we've established, rehashing the same things over and over again, sometimes adding a little detail here and there but with no clarity being gained.
While I appreciate this is how things happened, chronologically, it doesnt make a ton of sense to me to tell them in such a fasion.

The writing is quite average, doing its job without any specific lustre, and basically, the whole book feels like a vast attempt to convince someone to say something, and thus, rather useless in a way.

I wasnt impressed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

I think the case was taken on in an approachable way that highlights the difficulty of cold cases as well as the frustration of not knowing what happened to a love one. The strongest moments are the interviews from the parents, friends, and associates of Lauren. It’s clear she was a troubled girl but plenty of troubled girls wind up okay in the end. For her it’s not the case.

I understand why the author adds context from his own life since a reporter is not independent of their own controversy (at least not when it becomes public knowledge), but I didn’t think it added much to the tone and I wish it was more of a footnote.

I do hope some of the profits of this book wind up back to the family somehow and that they’re able to find justice. 3.5/5 rounded to 4.

Lauren Spierer was a rising junior at Indiana University in the summer of 2011. On the night of June 3, 2011 she vanished with little insight as to what happened to her, given that she was highly intoxicated at the time of her disappearance and too many friends perspectives to count, we still have no answers and are still left questioning…..where is she?

Shawn Cohen tells of Lauren’s last few hours in a clear concise way, giving new detailed information into how this may have happened. He has researched this case well throughout the years and has become good friends with Lauren’s parents, who give their blessing to the writing of this book.

I was slightly familiar with this true crime mystery and remember it being all over the news, I didn’t however realize that there had really been zero fresh leads in the years since. Most interesting to this account from Shawn were the text message exchanges he had with two of Lauren’s friends who were last to see her that night, Rossman and Rosenbaum. It seems as though they both wanted to give their perspectives to clear their names, yet left new questions and concerns from both accounts.

This was a really fast read with great details and honest perspectives from both Lauren’s family and friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who has never heard of this case nor the details this was an interesting read (though I didn’t realize it was non fiction at first) but then it made it that much more enthralling. The case of Lauren Spierer still remains unsolved to this day, her family still grieves, and the main suspects still remain tight lipped and point fingers at a deceased serial killer that happened to be in the area at the same time. As a person who enjoys true crime this was so good, and the never before heard/read interviews Cohen did with the friends, family, and suspects pulled me in even more.

We hear about this stuff everyday and still to read about it, to know it’s an active person still gone, a family who has no closure, and people who still remain associates and struggle to keep their stories straight about that night actually makes my stomach churn.

Now, I don’t know if you can really give spoilers to non fiction and my apologies to the writer, publisher, and netgalley if this isn’t the most mature/professional way to add a review but SPOILERS BELOW!!!!:

- The negligence of the BPD is disgusting and everyone needs to fired.

- IF Wolffe was involved he was definitely the “shadow” figure jay claims to have saw and was jealous and felt hurt that Lauren went to meet up with another guy and killed her.

- Lawyering up to THAT degree is GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! A lawyer that worked with MIKE TYSON? Another high profile one for the other guy as well. Like? They should’ve been questioned to the point where it almost got illegal they would’ve turned on each other eventually.

-If Wolffe is innocent: Jay and Corey 100% disposed of Lauren’s body. (Though I don’t think they killed her) and I think her hitting her head (in addition to her heart problems and level of intoxication). caused more injury than what anyone realized especially since a witness could even hear it when she banged her head? She got to that apartment, probably passed out, and when they realized she wouldn’t wake up they panicked and given it was no cameras in specific areas they simply let the garbage trucks do the work after dumping her body or used the vehicle of ferbe(?) and dumped her somewhere far away.

- Corey 100% talked to brooke. If he could tell Lauren was possibly in the midst of an overdose he got scared and called the person he trusted the most and what Brooke could’ve said I don’t know. I can’t imagine a then 17 year old to be a mastermind but what could’ve transpired between those phone calls other than plotting?

This was a harsh read. So many things unsolved, so many questions and what ifs, so many things that could’ve been done different but didn’t. And Like, poor, Charlene says: The only way they get closure is if someone comes forward with information.

Thank You Netgally and Source Publishing for the arc for an honest review!

I'm a former IU student from the years 2003-2008 and grew up 45 minutes from campus. Even though I lived in Ohio at the time when Lauren went missing, I remember hearing it on the news. Not much new information has come out from this case but it makes you question what those young guys knew and did back then. 4.25/5

This review is of the writing, editing, storytelling, etc. NOT a criticism of what happened to the victim.

This book needs some serious editing. The author is using Tell, not Show for the details and inserts their own comments often, and in a weird way. The book starts off with the reader thinking they are going to be told the story of what happened to Lauren, and while they are, its overwhelmed by the story of the reporting and nonsensical comments from witnesses.

I realize that the author was trying to stay true to the quotes from the witnesses, but some editing for clarity would be GREATLY beneficial to the overall reading experience. The comments and narration often range from run-on sentences, to almost gibberish, making the reader work even harder to understand the meaning behind the words.

I live in Bloomington and was around when Lauren disappeared. This is an excellent book and provided new information into the case. If you like true crime this book is for you!

College Girl, Gone is a well-written book that adaptly weaves the story of a still missing college student with the author's unique relationship with her parents that developed over the years. It is a unique true crime story since there is no real ending. The book illustrates the destructive power of keeping secrets and the effect it has on the victim's friends and loved ones. It makes one question the police department's actions or lack thereof. The book makes the reader question what, if any, degree of responsiblity the victim must hold. Every parent of a college student and every college student him/herself should read this book. It is another sad reminder of the dangers that one can bring upon his/herself when drinking to an extreme. It; makes one wonder just how much responsibliity do friends have for each other. I would high recommend this book. As a teacher of high school seniors, I will be adding this to my true crime curriculum.

College girl, Missing is a great recap/expansion of the Lauren Spierer case. Lauren was a 20-year old college student at Indiana University when she vanished after a night out partying with friends and acquaintances. The detail about Lauren's world, and the intertwining relationships, does a lot to flesh out the different characters in the case. At the end of the day, this is still an unexplained disappearance, and while you can certainly read between the lines on what the author thinks might have happened, ultimately the outcome is inconclusive. Still, Cohen did an admirable job with the material that he had, and the murkiness that accompanies an unsolved case like this is nearly impossible to definitely wade through. If this is one of those cases that you've always wondered about, this is certainly a solid entry to learn more about it.

This book is about an unsolved mystery that occurred just security cameras became commonplace and the cyber sleuth community solved numerous crimes thanks to social media and filling in the gaps left by law enforcement. The author wonders what might have happened had Lauren disappeared a little later in time - would we know what became of her? It’s cruel that her parents will likely never get answers, and that her disappearance is an example of something that occurred just before it got harder for criminals to cover their tracks.

I’m haunted by the disappearance of Lauren Spierer, a college student who vanished after a night with friends in Bloomington, Indiana. This book itself is well-paced and easy to read, but as some have noted, it doesn’t bring any new information to the surface. Rather, the hope is that this will renew interest in her case. I hope that is the outcome and that someone comes forward about what happened to her.

Lauren is a college student and although she has many great qualities she is also a party girl. As many college students do once they get some freedom from their parents they start to experiment with drugs and typically drink more. Unfortunately for Lauren this may have all contributed to her disappearance on June 3, 2011. After going to some house parties and local bars she was extremely intoxicated and in the wee hours of the morning she started heading home but never made it there.

This book outlines the investigation into Lauren’s disappearance and goes into depth on the theories and possible suspects who may have been involved in her disappearance.

I am definitely a big fan of true crime books and have read many over the years. I had not heard of this case prior to reading the book. The circumstances are certainly strange and it’s a mystery what happened to Lauren. There seems to be a lot of secrecy around the night she went missing and very little cooperation from her friends or law enforcement. This is a quick read but if you are into true crime I think you will really like it.

Thank you for an advance copy of this book. I live in Chicago and remember this disappearence of Lauren an IU student. It was on local news and my parents mentioned it to me many times as I was a young, single girl at the time. Its hard to review a book like this that is so personal and heartbreaking for those involved, but I appreciated the author's efforts in drawing attention back to Lauren's case again. Did Lauren make some unsafe decisions that night? Yes but we all have done that in our younger days. It's sad that those involved have not been more forthcoming with information so her family can have some peace. Very heartbreaking and I hope some day they get the closure they deserve. Well written and researched book with lots of empathy for the family.

4 ⭐️ College Girl, Missing explores in depth the 2011 disappearance of twenty-year-old Lauren Spierer from Indiana University’s campus. This true crime book is written and researched by investigative journalist, Shawn Cohen—one of the first to report on Lauren’s disappearance when it occurred.

I was a bit familiar with Lauren’s case before going into this book (having listened to the episode dedicated to her case done by Crime Junkie podcast), but appreciated how thoroughly researched this book was. Cohen was able to dig into the case in a way that seemingly no one else has done and interview people related to the case that have never gone on the record before.

I read it in one day and thought Cohen did a great job with it. He was thorough but didn’t provide unnecessary detail, maintained a respectful tone throughout, and truly seems to want to get to the bottom of this case for Lauren’s family and friends rather than for profit.

**If you are interested in true crime but only solved cases, this will not be the book for you because as of this writing, unfortunately Lauren’s case remains cold.**

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks, and Shawn Cohen for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up some true crime nonfiction, so I was excited to give this one a go. I’ve always been fascinated and dumbfounded by Lauren Spierer’s mysterious disappearance from Indiana University back in 2011. I was also intrigued by the fact that this book was penned by a journalist involved in the case basically from day 1. Ultimately, I thought this was a concise and straightforward account of the events and people surround the case. If you’re an avid consumer of missing persons and true crime in general, this likely won’t provide any new content/theories for you. This read like a spark notes version of the case at times (which, if you’re unfamiliar with the case, may be a perk for some readers).

Unfortunately, one issue I had with this book was that the author rubbed me the wrong way at times. We got some additional context as to why he chose to write this book when he did, and it just didn’t really sit well with me. I also found it a little odd how many times he referenced his close and personal relationship with Lauren’s family. But that’s all just my personal opinion, so take that with a grain of salt.

📚PRE-PUBLICATION REVIEW📚

"College Girl, Missing"
By Shawn Cohen.

The Synopsis:

"She visited friends. She walked to a bar. She was right there... Until she was gone."

This is the true story of missing Indiana University college student, Lauren Spierer, who disappeared after a night out in Bloomington on June 3, 2011. After more than 12 years, there are still no answers about what happened to her that night. Journalist Shawn Cohen has covered this story from the beginning and writes this book in the hopes of reviewing what's known - and trying to find new information that could help solve this case and the question that remains..."what really happened to Lauren Spierer?"

My Review:

First off, I want to extend a big THANK YOU to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for providing me this Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a really captivating and well-written narrative of a true crime case!! I am a massive true crime fan, and I'm sorry to say I wasn't familiar with Lauren Spierer and her disappearance. I flew through this book's detailing of her disappearance, the 'botched' police investigation by local police in critical days & weeks after her disappearance, and the ongoing efforts of family and friends to try and find out what happened that night.

I'll admit I was slightly disappointed with the "new" testimony promised by sources who'd never spoken with investigators before. What was "newly-shared" didn't really shed much light on the mystery and seemed to be talked up as a bigger deal than it was. I would have liked to have seen more loose ends tied up somehow...With that said, I believe Cohen did a lot to track down what he got -- I just wanted it to be more.

I'm sad there are still no answers for Lauren's family and was disappointed by the "friends" who are still closing ranks and coming across as WAY more defensive than they should be if they really don't know anything. Get YOUR copy on 5/28/24 -- I hope this book re-invigorates the case and encourages the internet sleuths to do their thing!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

#netgalley #sourcebooks #shawncohen #advancedreadercopy #truecrime #laurenspierer #whereislauren #bookreviews #bookstagram