Wow. My heart is broken after reading this book. I know I’ve said it before but I do not watch any TV or look at news so this tragic display of events was definitely news to me. This case is so horrific, terrible, frightening and literally made my mom heart ache. Even though the topic of this one is very gruesome and tragic I felt it was really well done. I loved that the author was able to focus on the victims lives and the bright future they all had vs solely on the killer whom in my opinion isn’t even worth mentioning his name here. I pray that these poor families find peace and healing and something positive comes out of this tragedy. It’s mind boggling to me that someone can do such heinous things to another human. 😭 I would say if you like true crime this one is worth reading but be warned that this was not an easy read.

I have my own personal qualms with the True Crime genre, but as a University of Idaho alumni I followed this case closely as it was happening in real time and was interested in learning more if possible. I felt that this book was thorough without being invasive and demeaning to the victims. The author was very respectful and included lots of happy memories from the lives of the victims and never got graphic or voyeuristic on the murders themselves.

before reading this i knew virtually nothing about the case and this did a good job of compiling all the current information into one spot. that being said, i'm a little iffy on how i feel about this being published before the trial. it seems like it's leading you to a conclusion that hasn't been reached yet. overall, it was an informative true crime read. i hope justice is served and the families of the victims can find peace.

thanks to netgalley and harper perennial for my copy of while idaho slept by j. reuben appelman. all opinions are my own.

When four co-ed students are murdered in their campus house, the entire state of Idaho goes on alert. Things like that just never happen in places like this. The college is supposed to be safe, and its students preparing for Thanksgiving and finals, not funerals.

As the case unfolds, there are frustrations from the media and the parents of the murdered students over what appears to be a lack of communication from the police. But the police chief knows that he needs to play it safe and not put all the cards on the table - just yet.

This was a really good book, and laid out the crime, the case, and the trial, bringing a horrific crime into focus. It also goes through the background of the killer, and what led him to finally break and take the lives of four young people.

True crime lovers will enjoy this book!

“In essence, due to the intense media interest in the King Road homicides, Judge Marshall was shutting out the media going forward in order to maintain the integrity of the case and to ensure an unbiased jury, should the case go to trial.” And yet this book was written?

I do appreciate the focus on the victims (Maddie, Kaylee, Ethan and Xana) rather than sensationalizing the case/killer. However with that being said, I’d skip this book. It’s published way too soon after the murders, before a trial has even been set! There are many facts that are unverified because of the sealed files, which just makes the book content something to be taken with a grain (or handful) of salt.

I think that’s also a huge issue in the true crime community, is it’s grown so large especially with social media and podcasts. That maybe the author wanted to be the first to write about the case, resulting in a rushed and too-soon book that is largely inaccurate (or rather unverified) and unfinished. The evidence against the suspect is largely circumstantial or rumored. The book paints him to be the killer based on this “evidence” but he has not been convicted. And some of the claims regarding social media are unverified and the author even says in acknowledgments that he used a lot of the social data based on social media profiles (how is that a reliable source)?!

Also because the case was so recent and hasn’t gone to trial, the author has a lot of pages to fill in. So it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary detail, written in choppy sentences. Again, I appreciated that unlike a lot of true crime these days, While Idaho Slept isn’t sensationalized and focuses on the victims. But with that being said, I didn’t need to have multiple chapters about what each victim’s third grade teacher had to say about them. It was repetitive and read like someone trying to reach the word count of their college essay.

The book was informative about the timeline and bare facts about the case, but it’s nothing you couldn’t get from the news stories and sub Reddits. The content read like the author summarizing the newspaper stories and interviews from families rather than offering new information. Personally I learned a lot because I hadn’t heard much about this case when it had happened. But if you followed this case at all in the past year, skip the book and wait for some time to go by and someone else to publish a more fully fleshed out book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for gifting me a digital ARC of this true crime story by J. Reuben Appelman - 4 stars!

The heartbreaking story of the senseless murders of four Idaho college students in November 2022 was all over the news as was the nationwide search for the killer. Thankfully, the perpetrator was caught and is awaiting trial, although he waived his right to a speedy trial and no date has been set.

I really appreciated the fact that this book focused on the lives of the four students and was not all about the killer. The author obviously did a lot of research into their lives and their families, and also gave strong evidence against the suspect. Like many, I am fascinated by true crime stories and this was a good one. It might have been better to wait until a verdict was in hand, but it was a well-written look into this sad case.

I'm not quite sure what to think about this book. I went into it knowing almost nothing about the murders of four University of Idaho students nearly a year ago. This book is informative, reconstructing a timeline of the murders and the investigation, leading up to the arrest and arraignment of a suspect. I appreciate that this book resists the tendency in the true crime genre towards breathless fixation on the lurid details of the murders or a painstaking, nearly worshipful analysis of the accused killer. In fact, the alleged killer's name is not listed until nearly halfway through the book, and the only information about his history is that which is relevant to the investigation.

Instead, after succinctly describing a reconstructed timeline of the murders, the narrative quickly focuses on how the town was affected in the aftermath, including moving descriptions of the bereaved families' grieving processes. These chapters are interspersed with biographies of the victims, giving a bigger picture to who these individuals were beyond the horrible circumstances surrounding their deaths.

While I appreciate the care the author took to humanize the victims and deny the alleged killer notoriety, I am surprised that this book is publishing before the trial has started. Given the narrative's focus on the law enforcement investigation leading to an arrest and charging a suspect, the ending of the book feels abrupt without the resolution of the results of the criminal trial. It seems a little hasty to publish it now, even though it's currently unclear when the trial will start. I suppose the author can write a revised edition or even a follow up book to cover the forthcoming trial, but that does undercut the care and attention of this book.

That said, people who want an overview of everything we know so far will appreciate this book, even though its relevancy might pass quickly, depending on how the trial unfolds.

As a fan of true crime books, I was really happy to get this arc. I love that the author delved into the victim’s lives and really kept them at the forefront of the story. Too many times, you don’t hear much about the victims, just the killer. He was respectful and you got to know them through the relationships they had with family and friends. I also like that he gave a background of the police officers involved in the case. When he wrote about the suspected killer, he showed both sides of the story as he hasn’t been convicted as of the writing of this book. If you are a fan of true crime or just want more information regarding the murders, I recommend this book. Thanks NetGalley and Harper publishing for the opportunity to read and review.

The title and description of this book is what initially drew me to it. While I enjoyed it, it didn't leave me guessing/wanting more like most books in this genre do. It was harder to get into but after I got started, it did progressively get better.

I think we are all turning into true crime junkies thanks to the news. And this one was certainly horrific enough to occupy our news feeds for days. So, I was interested to learn more. However, I really did not. I expected a deep dive into this crime rather than a cheap novel-like story. Maybe it is too early for a book like this, but it was very surface-level.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

This is a story of four teenagers who were murdered in Moscow Idaho throughout the book we learn about the four lives that were taken in unlike most true crime books the narrative is mostly spent on the victims and not the perpetrator we learn about their likes and dislikes they’re growing up the schools they went to their best friends and little time is focused on the actual event I think if you like biographies then you like this book I found it pretty interesting but thought more time could’ve been spent on the trial or the investigation it just went from the four victims to them tracking the suspect on his drive back home I like books that are more involved with the investigation and or the court trial and although it was refreshing to have a different viewpoint when I started reading this book I think I was expecting something I didn’t get now having said that this is still a really good an interesting book especially for those who love being a fly on the wall of other peoples lives if this sounds like something that would be interesting to you then you definitely need to read While Idaho Slept by J Reuben Applemen. I want to think Harper perennial paperbacks and Net Galley for my free ARC copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

While I knew with brevity about this case from what I would catch on the morning news, I had no idea of the details of this case. For anyone who loves true crime this book will keep you engaged and crave justice for the victims. The author made you empathize with not only the victims and their families, but also those who were wrongly accused and had their lives tore apart. I cannot image being a survivor of this attack and my heart goes out to those individuals. It seems like perhaps our system failed these young adults, and I was glad to read so much background into the supposed killer.

I have to admit, I stopped reading this. The language was too flowery for me and for a true crime book. I couldn't get past that. With that being said, what I did read in terms of information was interesting though I'm confused why the author didn't wait until the trial was over as that adds so much to the story.

After learning of the murders in Idaho, I knew that there would soon be a book published on it. This book definitely allowed me to look at the murders in a different light. The author just like many of us had questions about the murders and why they really happened. While we may never know the real reason of why those four students lost their lives, we know that the killer has been caught and I feel that this book will help you learn a little more about it.

Could not put this book down. Finished in record time. Riveting and fascinating from the start. I have been highly invested in this case since the beginning and was even in the mentioned Facebook groups with Bryan. I had chills starting at the prologue. It is so well written and detailed. You can have all the knowledge you think you do or go into this book without knowing anything and enjoy it just the same. The deep insight and details about the victims make you feel like you knew them personally. Definitely recommend for all true crime lovers.

I've been very intrigued by the heart-wrenching story of the Idaho college murders which occurred in November 2022. It was an incredible relief to finally hear (in late December) that the suspected perpetrator of this horrific crime was arrested. There have been sporadic news articles about the case which is going to trial in October 2023, but this is the first book I've seen on the case.

The author did a good job covering all aspects of the case. Using current available data coupled with interviews, he speculates how the murders occurred- which was riveting. He then backtracks to perform a biographical profile of each of the murdered students, including commentary from teachers, family and friends. The details of the murder suspect's moment of arrest was particularly fascinating as he was caught in suspicious activity at that moment. We hear about the funerals, court appearances, and the intensive evidence gathering. This was an interesting, informative and well-written account of these murders prior to the case going to trial.

Thank you to the publisher Harper Perennial and Paperbacks who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This is one of those books that I wanted to love. I live over by Seattle, and these murders took place not too far from me, so that piqued my interest. You would think that I had enough news coverage of it being local, and my husband watches local news twice daily…but I didn’t even know how the murders occurred. I only knew that some kids got murdered in Idaho and with the way things are nowadays I just assumed they were shot.

I absolutely loved learning more about this case. That was really interesting and fun. I also did enjoy getting to know the victims more.

However, that is about all I liked about this book. I hated the writing style. At first I was like okay, overly descriptive might work, but then it took a turn, and it became an every page type of thing and I hated it. It was like the author was trying too hard to get people to like the book. And he had great material to work with.

I also found some of the author’s conclusions a little, well suspect. They weren’t backed by fact, and this is what I struggled with. I am supposed to leave the details up to the author who just came into the case. Naw I’d rather wait for those with intimate and close knowledge to make these conclusions. And that will occur when this case goes to trial, if not already. But this case hasn’t gone to trial. No one has been convicted of this crime. So, I find it wholly unjustified to lay the case out and pinpoint the murders on one person, again who is not convicted.

Overall, I just found this writing style not for me, but I have a strong suspicion people will eat it up. I also struggle very much with the fact that no one has been convicted of these crimes yet and conclusions are being drawn. In my opinion it is too early for this book.

2.5 stars rounded down for posting.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t certain I was ready to read about this case as it just happened and it was beyond disturbing following the media frenzy that surrounded these murders. This book focused on the victims: Madison, Kaylee, Xana, Ethan- their upbringing, their college experiences and the relationships they had with their roommates. A small section of the book, focused on the suspected killer and his background, but little is known about any connection he has to the victims. This was a tough case to read about and I shed a lot of tears learning about these young college students and the devastation their families have experienced. They have the man they believe is responsible for the four murders, and the trial is set for October 2023.

I appreciated that this book really honed in on the families of the victims. I think often with true crime, it is the killers that are glorified with little focus given to the real people affected by them. I will continue to follow this case, and hope the murderer is brought to justice.

*I never feel comfortable rating true crime, but if you’ve followed this case- this is worth picking up. There is a podcast available too.

A timely and informative account of the Idaho case up until this point. I think it's a bit soon and hope there will be some kind of update after the trial but if you haven't followed this case and are interested in true crime, this is a great place to start.

I will always follow this case. It really hurts my heart what happened to these poor kids. I hope other youths can learn from it at least, although I think these kids did nearly everything right and their lives were still stolen ruthlessly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

Pros:
*Lots of detail about the victims -- what their lives were like, who they were as people.
*A reasonably good compendium of all the media coverage available on the case, sort of a "one stop shop" of information.

Cons:
Oh god, where to start?
*Terrible writing. I mean, absolutely TERRIBLE. Between the wild speculation about the interior lives of people the author has never spoken to, and the godawful sentences like "In the dark, his headlamps jostled over ruts in the road, the ways lives are sometimes jostled -- by bumpy chance and unforeseeably", it took everything I had in me to not just give up and file this one as DNF before I hit the halfway point.
*With the exception of some "human interest" information the author got from talking to loved ones of the victims and one childhood acquaintance of the suspect, there is no new reporting here. I would have learned as much (and in fact learned more!) by reading articles in the Idaho Statesman.
*Lurid and unnecessary details of the crime scene clearly intended to titillate, a fully speculative and skin-crawling section in which the author writes about what he think happened the night of the murders loosely based on official law enforcement documents, and a salacious tone throughout.

Final verdict:
I think this book will appeal to the true crime girlies, but for me, it's easily the worst book I've read all year. Churned out only a few months after the murders occurred, before a trial has even happened, it's an obvious cash grab for an author trying to make a name for himself in an exploitative genre. I trusted the reviews that said it was well-written and respectful, but with every page I read I felt so gross for reading it, and I regret having requested the ARC in the first place.