Review: The Girl in Room 105

The Girl in Room 105 by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read Chetan Bhagat's books as ones which are good to relax with - they move along easily and have a decent story. This book is a little different from his earlier ones as it has crime and suspense thrown in. However, the net result is a disappointment.

The setting is one of Keshav telling his story to the author. Keshav is an IITian who hates his job at a coaching class primarily due to the owner, but can find no better job. He continues to pine for his ex-girlfriend Zara Lone, a Kashmiri who he meets in college. She is his junior and stays in Room 105 in the hostel. One night one her birthday he receives text messages from her inviting him back to her life. Their relationship had ended quite some time back and Zara was now engaged to Raghu. He is puzzled but excited. He goes over to her room and soon becomes embroiled in a mystery.

There is some very amateurish and silly sleuthing engaged in by Keshav and his friend. It is almost as if the author has written it hoping it will be made into a movie, where a lot of silly stuff is considered acceptable. I am afraid though it makes for some poor reading.

The story itself did have potential - a Hindu boy falling in love with a Kashmiri Muslim girl, with crime, the situation in Kashmir and suspense as the backdrop. But the book does not go anywhere close to the potential the story offered..


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