Definitely a frustrating case that feels like it should be solvable, but in all likelihood, never will be solved. And I think that's what's frustrating about this book took, I can't tell if Cohen thought he'd crack the case or if he was doing this as a sort of a last ditch Hail Mary to get one of the suspects to come forward. Maybe it will, although the interviews with the suspects was...anticlimactic. All in all, it's fine reporting and a quick read, but not a game changer of the genre.

✨NetGalley E-Arc Book Review✨
College Girl, Missing: The True Story of How A Young Woman Disappeared in Plain Sight - Shawn Cohen

When I requested this ARC I was surprised to see it was a case I had never heard about myself and went into this book with no previous bias or knowledge of this case.

Lauren Spierer was only 20 years old and a sophomore at Indiana University when after a night out on June 3, 2011 she disappeared, never to be seen or found again.

Over a decade later, Shawn Cohen, one of the original reporters on the case in 2011, decided to write this book in hopes of bringing attention back to this unsolved case. He worked alongside Lauren’s parents, who gave him permission to share all the events of the night (even the less flattering ones of their daughter), in hopes to better understand how something like this could happen and still remain unsolved to this day.

I was completely hooked while reading this book, I feel immensely for anyone who knew and loved Lauren and anyone who was involved in the events leading up to the disappearance. I can’t imagine the pain in not knowing how your loved one spent their last moments.

I think this story was handled with care and I don’t think it was meant to be exploitative in any way. It sort of felt like I was reading a documentary as he recounted every detail of the night it happened. I left this book heartbroken, frustrated, and hopeful that if someone knows something, there could one day be some sort of closure for this family.

4/5⭐️ for those who are interested in gaining more knowledge of this case and sharing Lauren’s story. This was a tough one but it was succinct and well done in my opinion.

College Girl, Missing is a look at the disappearance of Lauren Spierer. The case seems like something you'd see on TV, but is unfortunately real. I hope this book brings new interest to the case & justice for Lauren and closure for her family can be gained.

I’m a lover of true crime, the story behind the disappearance of anyone is heartbreaking for the family and friends involved.
The author of this book also covered the case when Lauren Spierer initially disappeared, he has approval from the family to publish his findings.
Lauren was a popular student attending Indiana University, she had many male and female friends. There are numerous sightings of Lauren the night she disappeared, a lot of people remember where she had been. It seems that as Lauren stumbled around, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, not one person took responsibility for her safety.
All of the students and members of the public have no idea what happened to Lauren. Delving into this matter has not uncovered the truth, there is someone who knows.
The author gave a lot of well researched detail, perhaps his personal life wasn’t as necessary to include. The events of the night a young woman seemingly disappeared are revealed. Over 10 years ago there was a witness who is yet to bring closure and share the reality of Lauren’s fate.
Hopefully this book will help solve the case for Lauren’s family.

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nonfiction books are never my favorite, but the synopsis for this one drew me right in. I didn’t remember hearing about this case, but the author sucked me right into this world with his reporting. It helped provide so much backstory too because he detailed Lauren’s life before college, and the extensive partying atmosphere present at IU.

It was easy to understand and follow the case with the organized chapters, cited interviews, and timelines. The author did a great job writing this book, and I think any True Crime fan will enjoy it. I truly hope that one day Lauren’s parents will receive answers on what happened to their daughter.

Thank you NetGalley and Source Books for this ARC of College Girl, Missing by Shawn Cohen.

I vaguely remember this news story when it broke and then it becoming a cautionary tale for college students. The absolute magnitude and heartbreaking details of Lauren Spierer’s disappearance is artful written in this nonfiction novel. Cohen takes great care in cataloging this account in a respectful and caring way. It leaves to be said about self preservation and what people are willing to do even in the most tragic of situations even with people they “care” about.


Pub Date: May 28, 2024
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This true crime book is both well-researched and heartbreaking. Told from the perspective of the author and the missing girl's parents, it detailed the many rumors and facts surrounding the case, as well as describing the girl as well as her habits and friends.

I recall this case well, as my son entered IU just after this occurred, and I remember all the posters on campus. This was a well-written and engaging account of how she went missing and the investigation (or sometimes lack thereof) surrounding it.

I think most readers who enjoy true crime have heard about Lauren Spierer's story. This book was a nice summary of what happened the night of her disappearance, the backstory of the suspects involved and potential theories. It's sad that she has never been found and her family has not received the justice and peace they deserve to find. I was not deeply familiar with her case so I though this book had alot of information for those not truly familiar with her story.

College Girl, Missing is an account of Lauren Spierer’s disappearance from Indiana University in June of 2011. As an IU alum in the years following Lauren Spierer’s disappearance, I was hoping for something new (with the innate knowledge that if there were something new to know, it would be all over the news) so I suppose I was a bit disappointed just based on my own proximity to the case.

This is very interesting and compelling story. It's told very narratively for a non fiction novel. The story is a rough one but important.

This was hard to read as a mother. I thought of my own high school aged son, and I fear that sending him away to college in another city will result in tragedy.

I hope that Laurens family gets the closure they need.

I wish the author stuck to the case and didn't wax poetic about developments in his own life. Parts read like a memoir rather than true crime.

College Girl, Missing is the account of Lauren Spierer a teen who disappeared from Indiana University in June of 2011.

A decade later, Lauren's remains have still not been found and the family has no answers as to what happened to her.

Shawn Cohen, the author, decided to revisit the case in hopes of finding new leads, by interviewing witnesses and suspects, combing through the records of private investigators hired by the Spierer family, and organizing the facts of the case in this book.

. This book is brief and a quick and easy read. The story is a review of the timeline, the facts, and the people connected to the case. Cohen is a decent writer and leads the reader to question the stories and alibis of some of the main suspects. I wasn’t a fan of the way the author, talked about himself in the story more often than I thought necessary.

Hopefully, this book might book spark someone who has new information that could lead to answers and closure for the family. 

But that seems doubtful after so many years

If you enjoy true crime, Dateline, and 20/20 stories then College Girl, Missing by Shawn Cohen would be a great book to read. This was a new to me story and the victim was around my age so I was very intrigued by the story, also I love anything true crime. I will say, if you’ve heard the story in the media you may not get anything new out of reading this book. I was drawn in right away, and I could tell just by reading how much time and research the author put into telling this story. It reminded me of a Dateline or 20/20 episode when the author added interviews with many of the characters and told their point of view verbatim.

A few things about the book that I wasn’t a fan of was that the story felt a little choppy and didn’t feel like it naturally flowed. It almost felt like I was reading bullet points throughout the book, but they weren’t bullet points they were paragraphs. I also think a timeline or more dates throughout the story really would have helped a reader follow it. Also maybe a key of each of the main names throughout the book and their relation to Lauren to refer back to might have been helpful.

A couple times throughout the book the author talks about himself and where he was at professionally and I didn’t really understand the connection, for instance he brought up dating a former hooker who was part of a case he investigated.

He also brought up two other more current cases he investigated (Idaho muders and gabby petito) but they weren’t really relevant to the story in my opinion.

Overall I enjoyed the story!
I will also leave a review on Goodreads.

College Girl, Missing tells the story of Lauren Spierer who disappeared from Indiana University, and the ensuing media frenzy that surrounded the case.

The book was written with Lauren's family's blessing which is something I think is very honourable on behalf of the author. However, the story and focus of the case was heavily let down by the author's bizarre decision to centre himself in so much of the story. It veered between a true crime story about a missing girl, and a memoir of the author in a way that felt weird and inappropriate.

It was interesting that there were details included that had not previously been released to the public, but these were overshadowed by the issues with the execution of the book and the challenge to look past the author's personal interjections.

Also the risk of collaborating so closely with the family is that work has the potential to become quite biased towards one point of view, and present a tunnel-vision narrative that fuels a crusade to have a particular form of justice exacted. I do feel quite strongly that good true crime should be fair, impartial and unbiased whilst still being respectful and considerate of the victims and those involved.

Overall, I didn't love this book as the storytelling let it down, but I hope Lauren's family are able to find peace.

What really was the point of this book? It seems like the book is actually about the authors experience ‘investigating’ the disappearance… not the disappearance itself. It also needs some serious editing… there are so many awkward sentences and an overuse of commas. One positive thing is that hopefully this book spreads more awareness about the case.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an early copy of this book. I have heard of Lauren's story before and it is truly heartbreaking. I hope this novel gives more and renewed attention to her story. Hearing the parents perspective in this was devastating. Highly recommend if you want to learn of an unsolved cold case. I'll be watching more documentaries now!

Shawn Cohen was one of the first journalists assigned to the story when Indiana University student Lauren Spierer went missing in June 2011. Cohen was working for Spierer's hometown paper in Westchester, New York at the time and he reported on the search for Lauren, from the first days when there was hope of finding her alive, as suspects were identified but never charged, and as theories emerged about what could have happened to Lauren. A decade later, Lauren's remains have still not been recovered and the family has no answers as to what happened to her. So Cohen decided to revisit the case in hopes of finding new leads, interviewing witnesses and suspects, combing through the records of private investigators hired by the Spierer family, and laying out the facts of the case in this book.

This book piqued my interest because I live in Indiana and watched coverage of the case on local news. I also was a new mom at the time Lauren disappeared and it broke my heart every time Lauren's mom would publicly plea for someone to step forward. It's a short book, an easy read, and the majority of the book is a review of the timeline, the facts, and the people connected to the case. While there are no big bombshells in the book, Cohen definitely leads the reader to question the stories and alibis of some of the main suspects. The writing is good enough, but I don't understand why this book needed to be written other than as an ego boost for the author, who inserts himself into the story more than necessary. However, I hope that the book will lead someone who knows something to step forward and help the Spierer family get the closure they deserve.

3.25/5 stars, rounded down to 3.

I always like to read true-crime. This book is about Lauren Spierer. She went missing after a night of partying with friends. The case was never solved and there are no new leads. I can not imagine what these poor parents are going through.
The issue I had with the book was that the parents and author were pointing fingers at people they think are involved. I agree that law enforcement should look into it, on the other hand writing a book and pointing fingers without actual proof can be dangerous. Could it have been an accident? Could they be involved…yes, but it takes a lot more investigation and leads. The research was really good. Although I thought the story was interesting, I struggled after the midpoint when the story turned and the writing was about the author himself. I didn't think it was appropriate as it wasn't adding anything to Lauren’s story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks for this ARC.

It’s hard to review something that reads like a news article, I hadn’t heard of this story before. It’s Devistating. I’m grateful Mr. Cohen has written this book to keep Lauren’s name out there & people looking. I enjoyed the book, as much as something like this can be enjoyed. If you’re a true crime fan, like I am, you will love this. Hopeful that some day her parents will find resolution.

I flew through this book. I feel that the author was trying to aid in getting justice for Lauren Spierer (and her family) and help solve her disappearance,not benefit from it. This is an intriguing story and seems like more and more families.

The only downside of this book is that they have not yet caught the killer or found Lauren’s body. I pray that someday, Lauren’s family will find peace. I hope that this story will open the eyes of both parents and young people about the dangers on college campuses.