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द गर्ल इन रूम 105
Hi, I’m Keshav, and my life is screwed. I hate my job and my girlfriend left me. Ah, the beautiful Zara. Zara is from Kashmir. She is a Muslim. And did I tell you my family is a bit, well, traditional? Anyway, leave that.
Zara and I broke up four years ago. She moved on in life. I didn’t. I drank every night to forget her. I called, messaged, and stalked her on social media. She just ignored me.
However, that night, on the eve of her birthday, Zara messaged me. She called me over, like old times, to her hostel room 105. I shouldn’t have gone, but I did… and my life changed forever.
This is not a love story. It is an unlove story.
Zara and I broke up four years ago. She moved on in life. I didn’t. I drank every night to forget her. I called, messaged, and stalked her on social media. She just ignored me.
However, that night, on the eve of her birthday, Zara messaged me. She called me over, like old times, to her hostel room 105. I shouldn’t have gone, but I did… and my life changed forever.
This is not a love story. It is an unlove story.
348 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2018
2514 people are currently reading
13520 people want to read
About the author
Chetan Bhagat
39 books5,532 followersChetan Bhagat writes op-ed columns for English and Hindi newspapers, including Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar, focusing on youth and issues based on national development. Bhagat is also a motivational speaker and has given talks in leading MNCs and other institutions. He quit his international investment banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing. In 2008, The New York Times called Bhagat "the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history". Bhagat, a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, is seen more as a youth icon than as an author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,074 reviews
October 20, 2018
The very first page of the book says that Chetan Bhagat is the author of eight bestselling novels (including this one - of-course) which have sold over twelve million copies and have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide. Not only that but also that The New York Times has called him "The biggest selling author in India's history". I am not sure how true this claim is but thats what is published as his introduction and so much more like so many successful Bollywood movies based on his books, his column writing prowess and public speaking talent and how can we forget his acclaimed degrees from India's prestigious IIT and IIM :). On top of that what hurt me the most (post reading the book) is that he is still writing meaningless stories which will not qualify as "Literature" from any standard and this one fails big time even on entertainment grounds. I will call it the weakest of his books which is way below and boring than his own worst "One Night @ The Call Center". I guess his name is big enough that neither his editors spend anytime on his writing nor the proof readers or publisher. I am no expert but if I am able to point out a dozen grammatical mistakes and so many spelling mistakes and I am not even talking about the plot here (or lack of it as some of my friends will say post reading or some may claim without reading too). A complete disaster from the very start, which just drags, goes no where, gives nothing to the reader and refuses to end. The most challenging book ever written by Mr. Bhagat so far and I guess my last from him, I will certainly not look forward to any more books from him now-onward. This is Goodbye and Good-riddance to Mr. Bhagat from me.
I don't know why but I seriously expected that he will not mention IIT in this book :) right from the day it was declared but as someone said "You can take a man out of IIT but you can never take IIT out a man from IIT" :D. Here the main protagonist is a loser from IIT who doesn't gets a campus selection even after passing from IIT, if that is some respite for people like me :). Not only that, he ends up coaching in a institute where they prepare candidates for IIT entrance exams :). So Mr. Loser has a girlfriend, who breaks off with him, meets another guy (super successful IITian), goes around with him and then she dies or gets killed. With Mr. Loser as the prime suspect and Delhi police investigating (read not doing anything) on the case. How Mr. Loser takes it on himself to solve the case on his own Ex Dead Girlfriend makes up for the rest of the book. He even has a Watson with him for support and that guy actually is a savior of sorts on this sinking boat with every page. If not for his comic timing, this would have become the second book in the history of my reading to have flown out of my 6th floor window. But I must say rather I guarantee that Mr. Bhagat has never touched a Agatha Christie or Conan Doyle for sure, let alone touching them, he has never ever read a Surendra Mohan Pathak even. If he had, he would certainly have written a better cat and mouse chase game or could have at least made it a little interesting for his readers. Now after reading this, I am actually ashamed to confess that I was clueless as for who are these people that he is writing these gems? What tortured me in the course of finding the killer and the reason behind all that was happening, was that he picks the most important character from Kashmir (A Muslim girl on top of that) and has no opinion whatsoever on the Kashmir conflict :) as he keeps steering clear of it throughout with his characters saying nothing about the political situation out there. I guess he should have chosen a girl from Manali to be safe and opinionated.
Main characters to look forward to, if you plan to read this book: A loser IITian (Hindu), A (Muslim) girl who refuses to join MIT and stays back for her love doing a PhD from IIT, A Super successful IITian (Dark South Indian Hindu), A not so corrupt Delhi police inspector, A ready for Padma Vibhushan IIT professor (wont go to Harvard or Stanford), A Jihadi, A very handsome Army officer. Still the story just doesn't take off or flies at all. Hindu Muslim inter-cast marriage is still not a cake walk in India. The only way Mr. Bhagat can can think of empowering his women is by letting them have sex with multiple partners (twice in a row now).
As the book comes to a conclusion, Mr. Bhagat proves that IIT not only churns out good writers but is also capable of giving us detectives too. If you plan not to read this book, I will still very highly insist that you go to your nearest book store, pick up the book and the read the very last page :) it gives out nothing about the story or the book but you must know what Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson do in the end. How he delivers his punch line "An Unlove Story" deserves a standing ovation. As that was the only point where I actually laughed out loud in the last four days of me reading this.
If you have read "The Girl in Room 105", you know that you have my sympathies for spending your precious money and time but if you haven't read, you are lucky and please keep it that way. But if there is anyone who has read and liked it, we really need to talk.
Although, I am an atheist but I prayed as I finished the book that "God, if you exist, please please please make sure that no movie maker buys this book's rights and makes a movie on it, please, mercy". Amen to that.
PS: To the darling Friend who sent me this book, OK, lets not debate on how I would have thrown it out of the window half read. You know how much I love you for saving my precious money ;) so lets skip the debate.
I don't know why but I seriously expected that he will not mention IIT in this book :) right from the day it was declared but as someone said "You can take a man out of IIT but you can never take IIT out a man from IIT" :D. Here the main protagonist is a loser from IIT who doesn't gets a campus selection even after passing from IIT, if that is some respite for people like me :). Not only that, he ends up coaching in a institute where they prepare candidates for IIT entrance exams :). So Mr. Loser has a girlfriend, who breaks off with him, meets another guy (super successful IITian), goes around with him and then she dies or gets killed. With Mr. Loser as the prime suspect and Delhi police investigating (read not doing anything) on the case. How Mr. Loser takes it on himself to solve the case on his own Ex Dead Girlfriend makes up for the rest of the book. He even has a Watson with him for support and that guy actually is a savior of sorts on this sinking boat with every page. If not for his comic timing, this would have become the second book in the history of my reading to have flown out of my 6th floor window. But I must say rather I guarantee that Mr. Bhagat has never touched a Agatha Christie or Conan Doyle for sure, let alone touching them, he has never ever read a Surendra Mohan Pathak even. If he had, he would certainly have written a better cat and mouse chase game or could have at least made it a little interesting for his readers. Now after reading this, I am actually ashamed to confess that I was clueless as for who are these people that he is writing these gems? What tortured me in the course of finding the killer and the reason behind all that was happening, was that he picks the most important character from Kashmir (A Muslim girl on top of that) and has no opinion whatsoever on the Kashmir conflict :) as he keeps steering clear of it throughout with his characters saying nothing about the political situation out there. I guess he should have chosen a girl from Manali to be safe and opinionated.
Main characters to look forward to, if you plan to read this book: A loser IITian (Hindu), A (Muslim) girl who refuses to join MIT and stays back for her love doing a PhD from IIT, A Super successful IITian (Dark South Indian Hindu), A not so corrupt Delhi police inspector, A ready for Padma Vibhushan IIT professor (wont go to Harvard or Stanford), A Jihadi, A very handsome Army officer. Still the story just doesn't take off or flies at all. Hindu Muslim inter-cast marriage is still not a cake walk in India. The only way Mr. Bhagat can can think of empowering his women is by letting them have sex with multiple partners (twice in a row now).
As the book comes to a conclusion, Mr. Bhagat proves that IIT not only churns out good writers but is also capable of giving us detectives too. If you plan not to read this book, I will still very highly insist that you go to your nearest book store, pick up the book and the read the very last page :) it gives out nothing about the story or the book but you must know what Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson do in the end. How he delivers his punch line "An Unlove Story" deserves a standing ovation. As that was the only point where I actually laughed out loud in the last four days of me reading this.
If you have read "The Girl in Room 105", you know that you have my sympathies for spending your precious money and time but if you haven't read, you are lucky and please keep it that way. But if there is anyone who has read and liked it, we really need to talk.
Although, I am an atheist but I prayed as I finished the book that "God, if you exist, please please please make sure that no movie maker buys this book's rights and makes a movie on it, please, mercy". Amen to that.
PS: To the darling Friend who sent me this book, OK, lets not debate on how I would have thrown it out of the window half read. You know how much I love you for saving my precious money ;) so lets skip the debate.
February 3, 2022
CB is definitely a horrible mistake that happened in the glorious history of Indian literature .
Indian greatest authors must be weeping somewhere while horrible bestsellers are making money and gaining fans!
I don't hate CB, I HATE EVERYTHING HE STANDS FOR!
I hate his cabbage mediocrity masquerading as populism . I hate how he has fooled a whole generation of readers into reading terrible books.
Most of all I hate his SETH GHANSHAYAM DAS smile, it's kind of smile that is missing on the faces of most writers because they are just writing something of substance as opposed to making appearance on Nach Baliye!
Speaking of the book:-
Can anyone help me telling which genre should this book be put in?
I think top shittiest reads ever.
Indian greatest authors must be weeping somewhere while horrible bestsellers are making money and gaining fans!
I don't hate CB, I HATE EVERYTHING HE STANDS FOR!
I hate his cabbage mediocrity masquerading as populism . I hate how he has fooled a whole generation of readers into reading terrible books.
Most of all I hate his SETH GHANSHAYAM DAS smile, it's kind of smile that is missing on the faces of most writers because they are just writing something of substance as opposed to making appearance on Nach Baliye!
Speaking of the book:-
Can anyone help me telling which genre should this book be put in?
I think top shittiest reads ever.
December 15, 2018
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 on 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..
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 on 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..
January 6, 2019
Spoiler Alert!
I am not really sure to which genre the book is supposed to belong.
The name suggests that the story is about a girl living in Room No. 105, possibly in a hostel/hotel/apartment etc. and one should read the book to know everything about this mysterious character. But all we come to know about her is that she is a Kashmiri with stereotypical fair skin, has an out of the world beautiful face, wants peace in her home state, loves her younger step brother and cheats on her fiancé. All this information is sprinkled like coriander leaves all over the book and the characterisation is extremely poor without any substance.
Next is the tagline which reads as An Unlove Story. The story is supposed to chronicle the protagonist’s journey from loving someone like a mad person to being indifferent and finding closure. The first few chapters has some sketchy details of this one-sided obsession but again, absolutely no depth in the love story. The journey to unlove basically involves investigating the murder of the love interest like an amateur detective. And that is about it. Murderer mil gaya, main tumhe bhool gaya! The motive of one-sided love is weak and the character’s portrayal of grief (even though I could hardly find any) is unconvincing and feels quite offhand.
Now let’s talk about the crux of the book which is the protagonist’s murder investigation and is supposed to be a thriller. Only catch is that there is no thrill. The protagonist literally breezes through nosing around without getting even one scratch or resistance from the system. The villain is a multi-millionaire, there is a corrupt army man involved, a Kashmiri militant threatens him and yet, everything seems to go perfect for our hero who cracks the mystery by using just his grey cells which has become equivalent to Hercule Poirot by teaching Mathematics in an IIT coaching centre. As for the Kashmir and the RSS issues which are thrown in like oregano flakes, I am no expert on both the topics but whatever is there in the book just feels like a marketing gimmick and nothing more.
The book, as I read in one interview, is supposed to be a fun thriller as well. Please note that the phrase fun thriller is to be taken literally. The genre is supposed to be humour as well as murder mystery. Well in the name of humour, you are treated to some cringy Bollywood style dialogues between the hero and the hero’s best friend. I am like please decide what exactly you want the book to be? Love Story, Hate Story, Thriller or Humour?
In short, a half backed story with very amateurish writing. Actually, it is a no baked story where the restaurants has served you just toppings to hide the empty serving plate.
I am not really sure to which genre the book is supposed to belong.
The name suggests that the story is about a girl living in Room No. 105, possibly in a hostel/hotel/apartment etc. and one should read the book to know everything about this mysterious character. But all we come to know about her is that she is a Kashmiri with stereotypical fair skin, has an out of the world beautiful face, wants peace in her home state, loves her younger step brother and cheats on her fiancé. All this information is sprinkled like coriander leaves all over the book and the characterisation is extremely poor without any substance.
Next is the tagline which reads as An Unlove Story. The story is supposed to chronicle the protagonist’s journey from loving someone like a mad person to being indifferent and finding closure. The first few chapters has some sketchy details of this one-sided obsession but again, absolutely no depth in the love story. The journey to unlove basically involves investigating the murder of the love interest like an amateur detective. And that is about it. Murderer mil gaya, main tumhe bhool gaya! The motive of one-sided love is weak and the character’s portrayal of grief (even though I could hardly find any) is unconvincing and feels quite offhand.
Now let’s talk about the crux of the book which is the protagonist’s murder investigation and is supposed to be a thriller. Only catch is that there is no thrill. The protagonist literally breezes through nosing around without getting even one scratch or resistance from the system. The villain is a multi-millionaire, there is a corrupt army man involved, a Kashmiri militant threatens him and yet, everything seems to go perfect for our hero who cracks the mystery by using just his grey cells which has become equivalent to Hercule Poirot by teaching Mathematics in an IIT coaching centre. As for the Kashmir and the RSS issues which are thrown in like oregano flakes, I am no expert on both the topics but whatever is there in the book just feels like a marketing gimmick and nothing more.
The book, as I read in one interview, is supposed to be a fun thriller as well. Please note that the phrase fun thriller is to be taken literally. The genre is supposed to be humour as well as murder mystery. Well in the name of humour, you are treated to some cringy Bollywood style dialogues between the hero and the hero’s best friend. I am like please decide what exactly you want the book to be? Love Story, Hate Story, Thriller or Humour?
In short, a half backed story with very amateurish writing. Actually, it is a no baked story where the restaurants has served you just toppings to hide the empty serving plate.
October 16, 2018
I am unloving Chetan Bhagat
I picked up and finished reading this book in one day. I picked up this book, because I wanted to decide whether I should hate Chetan Bhagat or not. I wanted to figure this out once and for all and put my mind to peace. After reading this book, I want to unlove him. Dont want to hate because hate is like me drinking poison and expecting him to die, which will never happen.
What I liked about the book!
1. The narrative of CB is simple. Anyone who understands basic colloquial English (Read as Urban Bred, Convent Educated, English speaking population) can quickly fall in line with the plot and flow through it wihtout first referring to the dictionary. Good for beginners and good to form reading habits.
2. The "Prologue Continued" chapter gave me the courage to actually not hate CB. CB is a character in his own story, but the story doesn't end with CB knowing the end of the story. Which is, I think a nice experiment and I can say that it's impressive.
What I didn't like about the book!
Spoiler Alert!
There are a hundred flaws which I want to talk about, but let me take the biggest out of all and talk about it. The heart of any story is in the characterization of the actors in the story. I want to talk about Zara Lone's characterization as she is The Girl in Room 105. By the time I finished reading this book, I was so very disappointed with Zara Lone that if I meet anyone with that name, I would perhaps think twice to make friends with that person. Let me recount Zara's story and while doing so annotate it with my own doubts, questions and commentary.
Zara Lone, a Kashmiri Muslim, doing her PhD in the area of Big Data Analytics and Networking in IIT, having a brilliant argumentative capability, falls in love with Keshav Rajpurohit, son of an RSS Activist, also studying in IIT (forcefully), later taking to work in a IIT-JEE coaching institution. Not likely to happen, but let's move on as love is a crazy thing. Let me point out here that Keshav doesn't have any vision for his life. He simply joined IIT because someone made him do it. A strong woman like Zara is unlikely to find him attractive. But let us say love is crazy and move on. But the fact that keeps nagging me is how come Keshav doesn't discover his own passion, being with Zara. It's like they never talk about that part of life at all. Why doesn't she, with all the brilliant debating skills she has, point Keshav towards that direction, making him see where he wants to go in life!
Zara has suffered because of the instability her father brought about in the family, by marrying repeatedly and wants a stable family life complete with parents-in-law, husband and children. When Keshav introduces her to his family, they reject her. This makes Zara re-evaluate her relationship with Keshav. She breaks up with Keshav. Once again we find a weakness in Zara's characterization. She could have easily debated with Keshav's parents and made them see her point of view. She could have fought to win them over. Keshav and Zara then approach Zara's family. Her father asks Keshav to convert to Islam. Keshav refuses. Here too, Zara (portrayed initially as a brilliant person with independent views about nationality and religion, an activist working for the cause of Kashmir), simply cries and blames her father but doesn't argue with him using her intellect. This leaves me confused.
After this bitter event in her life, she again chooses Raghu, a Hindu, and this time both sides parents agree to their marriage. If Zara's dad had insisted that Keshav convert to a Hindu, why does she choose another Hindu? Given that Zara's dad wouldn't repeat his request, he would perhaps not be too supportive of their marriage, in which case, her dream of a stable family would still not be realized. Is Zara so stupid that she doesn't realize this?
By the end of the story, we see that Zara realizes that Raghu can give her a stable family by being loyal to her, but is not sexually or romantically exciting. She begins to miss Keshav as he is both. So, she ends up meeting this handsome military officer, Faiz Khan and begins an affair with him because she misses the fun and excitement of being with Keshav. Faiz Khan is a Kashmiri Muslim, but is married and has kids. He was attracted to Zara since long (they are family friends) but she was first with Keshav and then with Raghu and he could never get a chance to express his affection to her. So, when Mr. Khan makes advances to Zara, Zara relents. Where does that leave her? After seeing her father in multiple relationships and having suffered the consequences, how can Zara get involved in frivolous sexuality? This, as I see it is the biggest hole in the story!
So, in the endgame, The Girl in Room 105 fails to express completely. None of Zara's brilliance is reflected in any part of life except in the opening paragraphs where she participates in a debate competition. None of Zara's independent and free-thinking nature is reflected in the story. The Girl in Room 105 has nothing to say. As a consequence, you the reader have nothing to read except a few bad jokes and some nice Bollywood like scenes. Read if you want to.
I picked up and finished reading this book in one day. I picked up this book, because I wanted to decide whether I should hate Chetan Bhagat or not. I wanted to figure this out once and for all and put my mind to peace. After reading this book, I want to unlove him. Dont want to hate because hate is like me drinking poison and expecting him to die, which will never happen.
What I liked about the book!
1. The narrative of CB is simple. Anyone who understands basic colloquial English (Read as Urban Bred, Convent Educated, English speaking population) can quickly fall in line with the plot and flow through it wihtout first referring to the dictionary. Good for beginners and good to form reading habits.
2. The "Prologue Continued" chapter gave me the courage to actually not hate CB. CB is a character in his own story, but the story doesn't end with CB knowing the end of the story. Which is, I think a nice experiment and I can say that it's impressive.
What I didn't like about the book!
Spoiler Alert!
There are a hundred flaws which I want to talk about, but let me take the biggest out of all and talk about it. The heart of any story is in the characterization of the actors in the story. I want to talk about Zara Lone's characterization as she is The Girl in Room 105. By the time I finished reading this book, I was so very disappointed with Zara Lone that if I meet anyone with that name, I would perhaps think twice to make friends with that person. Let me recount Zara's story and while doing so annotate it with my own doubts, questions and commentary.
Zara Lone, a Kashmiri Muslim, doing her PhD in the area of Big Data Analytics and Networking in IIT, having a brilliant argumentative capability, falls in love with Keshav Rajpurohit, son of an RSS Activist, also studying in IIT (forcefully), later taking to work in a IIT-JEE coaching institution. Not likely to happen, but let's move on as love is a crazy thing. Let me point out here that Keshav doesn't have any vision for his life. He simply joined IIT because someone made him do it. A strong woman like Zara is unlikely to find him attractive. But let us say love is crazy and move on. But the fact that keeps nagging me is how come Keshav doesn't discover his own passion, being with Zara. It's like they never talk about that part of life at all. Why doesn't she, with all the brilliant debating skills she has, point Keshav towards that direction, making him see where he wants to go in life!
Zara has suffered because of the instability her father brought about in the family, by marrying repeatedly and wants a stable family life complete with parents-in-law, husband and children. When Keshav introduces her to his family, they reject her. This makes Zara re-evaluate her relationship with Keshav. She breaks up with Keshav. Once again we find a weakness in Zara's characterization. She could have easily debated with Keshav's parents and made them see her point of view. She could have fought to win them over. Keshav and Zara then approach Zara's family. Her father asks Keshav to convert to Islam. Keshav refuses. Here too, Zara (portrayed initially as a brilliant person with independent views about nationality and religion, an activist working for the cause of Kashmir), simply cries and blames her father but doesn't argue with him using her intellect. This leaves me confused.
After this bitter event in her life, she again chooses Raghu, a Hindu, and this time both sides parents agree to their marriage. If Zara's dad had insisted that Keshav convert to a Hindu, why does she choose another Hindu? Given that Zara's dad wouldn't repeat his request, he would perhaps not be too supportive of their marriage, in which case, her dream of a stable family would still not be realized. Is Zara so stupid that she doesn't realize this?
By the end of the story, we see that Zara realizes that Raghu can give her a stable family by being loyal to her, but is not sexually or romantically exciting. She begins to miss Keshav as he is both. So, she ends up meeting this handsome military officer, Faiz Khan and begins an affair with him because she misses the fun and excitement of being with Keshav. Faiz Khan is a Kashmiri Muslim, but is married and has kids. He was attracted to Zara since long (they are family friends) but she was first with Keshav and then with Raghu and he could never get a chance to express his affection to her. So, when Mr. Khan makes advances to Zara, Zara relents. Where does that leave her? After seeing her father in multiple relationships and having suffered the consequences, how can Zara get involved in frivolous sexuality? This, as I see it is the biggest hole in the story!
So, in the endgame, The Girl in Room 105 fails to express completely. None of Zara's brilliance is reflected in any part of life except in the opening paragraphs where she participates in a debate competition. None of Zara's independent and free-thinking nature is reflected in the story. The Girl in Room 105 has nothing to say. As a consequence, you the reader have nothing to read except a few bad jokes and some nice Bollywood like scenes. Read if you want to.
December 14, 2020
One point that I have learned after reading Chetan Bhagat's works is that it provides no value increase to one's literary knowledge; his novels are only for fun-reading, i.e., viewed from one eye, fled from the other. By venturing into crime thrillers, through this book, he has tried to prove that he has an artistic and creative style; but, when reading, you ask as to why has he used the same method of getting a story during his plane ride?
He has tried to buildup suspense, but right at the start, you understand who the accused is, and suddenly the full account is quite a bore. Even though the whole context was, in fact, inventive, the output was so substandard. I observed the addition of some random details to the plot and left me questioning everything it had to do with the account. If you are a crime-thriller fan, please do give this one a pass.
He has tried to buildup suspense, but right at the start, you understand who the accused is, and suddenly the full account is quite a bore. Even though the whole context was, in fact, inventive, the output was so substandard. I observed the addition of some random details to the plot and left me questioning everything it had to do with the account. If you are a crime-thriller fan, please do give this one a pass.
August 6, 2019
Once more a block buster from Chetan Bhgaat and this time it is a double dhamaka- A love story with murder thrown in for special investigative effort. For those who have lived in hostels, this will be a trip down the memory lane. Fast paced as his other novels, this racy and thrilling chase culminates in Agatha Christie style novel with novice investigator identifying the murderer in front of audience, in typical Poirot style. Having worked with him as part of a reality show in ABP News, I was happy to see him mention the news channel in the plot. Great read
May 16, 2019
Chetan Bhagat is not among my favourites. I have tried to read two of his famous books previously, but couldn't finish (Not even reached through half).
I was on a hectic night shift duty at hospital. Early in the morning (around 5:30 am), eventually i got the chance to take rest for a bit. Well, lying on the hospital couch, i didn't find anything special to read on my Kindle. While scrolling randomly up & down, the synopsis of this new book attracted me (Honest confession :p) There's no harm to give a try, right?
Good or bad decision? Don't know. But, this book ain't no Cliche Chetan Bhagat love story about two people pining away. A softcore thriller or murder mystery would sound more appropriate. It's not a page turner, action packed, blood-shot one, but, the narrative is smooth & enjoyable.
I was on a hectic night shift duty at hospital. Early in the morning (around 5:30 am), eventually i got the chance to take rest for a bit. Well, lying on the hospital couch, i didn't find anything special to read on my Kindle. While scrolling randomly up & down, the synopsis of this new book attracted me (Honest confession :p) There's no harm to give a try, right?
Good or bad decision? Don't know. But, this book ain't no Cliche Chetan Bhagat love story about two people pining away. A softcore thriller or murder mystery would sound more appropriate. It's not a page turner, action packed, blood-shot one, but, the narrative is smooth & enjoyable.
September 3, 2020
The story has some kind of suspense, but like any other Chetan Bhagat books, it is filled with Hindi language abuses, objectifying women and their choices. It is like something you watch on a big screen, a commercialized movie based on a novel. I think the purpose of his writing is to give the Bollywood another feature film, nothing else.
The author talks about how people see Muslims in general, also the hate for Indian Army in Kashmir, and the people of Kashmir do not see themselves as a part of India, the policemen abusing their powers are a few points that made me stop reading for sometimes, so I can reflect on it. Overall, it is an okay read. If you hit a reading slump or someone who wants to improve their English, pick this book.
Read the full review here - https://www.bookscharming.com/2020/09...
The author talks about how people see Muslims in general, also the hate for Indian Army in Kashmir, and the people of Kashmir do not see themselves as a part of India, the policemen abusing their powers are a few points that made me stop reading for sometimes, so I can reflect on it. Overall, it is an okay read. If you hit a reading slump or someone who wants to improve their English, pick this book.
Read the full review here - https://www.bookscharming.com/2020/09...
August 28, 2021
Never judge a book by its cover.
Whoever said it missed another line to add.
Never judge a book by its title either.
Because these days you can never be sure if the book is good or bad just by looking up its synopsis or genre. The cover and the title doesn't help either.
Talking about this book..The girl in room 105.
So ask yourself, when you purchased this book for the first time. What did you think it will be about? The story of a girl? Which will give a glimpse of a mysterious girl?
Well you are right about the mystery portion. The rest I don't think.
The rest isn't even important.
So let's talk about the plot first.
(This contain spoilers, so read it at your own risk)
(beep beep: although I don't think there is anything to spoil in a book that has an obvious story)
To summarise it..
There is a girl named zara. Just minutes before she is dead she texts her ex boyfriend keshav to come and wish her birthday personally on room 105.
Keshav goes to her room to wish her, he does all that silly romantic tree climbing thing too. (hey we are writing a book which can be adapted into a movie later, come on)
But when he enters her room, he finds out that she is long dead.
Then keshav calls the police officer.
The police inspector rana investigates it in a way which will remind you of typical indian movies.
A perverted poor watchman is arrested. But the story doesn't end here. No, its just the beginning of the crappy story.
The ex boyfriend keshav embarks on a journey to solve the murder case of Zara.
Now I don't have any problem with how he solves the mystery. He does it in a good way. I mean of course, the way you expect a normal mystery novel or crime novel to be.
But what bothers me is the fact the whole detective case solving thing was a bit too easy.
It felt as if every clue was just right there sitting on his table, and he will go one step further depending upon his mood.
When you are reading a christie novel or an doyle one, you begin to get used to the fact that there are loose ends. Where the case just ends.
By no means do I mean to compare the two books, ofcourse, every author is entitled to bring out their own version of work, but doing a sloppy job and calling it a mystery thriller is an act of in justification to the genre itself.
Every mystery book has that disturbing element in it, which makes the reader impatient as well as excited while reading the story. There are loose ends, which frustrate the reader.
I saw no such thing in this book.
Even if there was , there were still some threads they could pick on, but they refused to do it.
That doesn't mean zero clues.
Oh did I tell you that while reading the book you could imagine who the killer was going to be? And trust me, you weren't wrong.
(Major spoiler ahead)
The killer in the end is ~raghu~, the fiancé.
Let's now talk about the girl.
She is an educated girl.
But I don't understand how you make a muslim girl look modern and empowered by making her fuck three guys and have an affair too?
I mean that is some serious new way of saying women empowerment.
Having sex isn't a bad thing.
But the way chetan bhagat writes about it, is so atrocious.
And miss zara is said to be good, kind , this and that.
There is no such thing which indiactes good about her.
I personally feel she is a selfish woman who falls in love with the first guy that shows interest on her.
What's with Chetan Bhagat and him stereotyping woman? Often the female lead come out as this rude arrogant cold woman, who is supposedly a good person, but she has commitment issues. Having commitment issues is completely alright, but creating a perception that every modern empowered woman is like, is what I would refer to as a black and white act of SEXISM.
Once again chetan bhagat does a good job is making an unattractive hero. And he pushes on this fact, ” See Iam unattractive, a looser. But the hottest chick of IIT is dating me. If I can have a girlfriend, so can you looser indian boys ".
I think this is how chetan bhagat sellls his novels.
Make the guy look like a looser. Introduce a beautiful girl. Add some desi family drama, a few fuck bombs, some bear bottle and a few social causes here and there.
Voila..a perfect best seller.
Oh , don't forget to make the author a character in the story too.
That adds some spicy tangy flavours to the book.
Now that you have the recipee I hope you work some shitty book like him, and make it a best seller.
And if you already are one, then trust me you are on the right part.
Because I think, the editors and publishing companies of India focuses on the name of the author, but not on the content.
How can you expect to get great writers in india, when guys like chetan bhagat continues to be best seller AUTHORS? (Iam not saying he never wrote a good book, but most of his words in the last half decade has been this cringe worthy tasteless broth in the name of a 5 star hotel)
Next time don't purchase a chetan bhagat book.
Maybe some new author's book with get more reviews who actually needs it.
Whoever said it missed another line to add.
Never judge a book by its title either.
Because these days you can never be sure if the book is good or bad just by looking up its synopsis or genre. The cover and the title doesn't help either.
Talking about this book..The girl in room 105.
So ask yourself, when you purchased this book for the first time. What did you think it will be about? The story of a girl? Which will give a glimpse of a mysterious girl?
Well you are right about the mystery portion. The rest I don't think.
The rest isn't even important.
So let's talk about the plot first.
(This contain spoilers, so read it at your own risk)
(beep beep: although I don't think there is anything to spoil in a book that has an obvious story)
To summarise it..
There is a girl named zara. Just minutes before she is dead she texts her ex boyfriend keshav to come and wish her birthday personally on room 105.
Keshav goes to her room to wish her, he does all that silly romantic tree climbing thing too. (hey we are writing a book which can be adapted into a movie later, come on)
But when he enters her room, he finds out that she is long dead.
Then keshav calls the police officer.
The police inspector rana investigates it in a way which will remind you of typical indian movies.
A perverted poor watchman is arrested. But the story doesn't end here. No, its just the beginning of the crappy story.
The ex boyfriend keshav embarks on a journey to solve the murder case of Zara.
Now I don't have any problem with how he solves the mystery. He does it in a good way. I mean of course, the way you expect a normal mystery novel or crime novel to be.
But what bothers me is the fact the whole detective case solving thing was a bit too easy.
It felt as if every clue was just right there sitting on his table, and he will go one step further depending upon his mood.
When you are reading a christie novel or an doyle one, you begin to get used to the fact that there are loose ends. Where the case just ends.
By no means do I mean to compare the two books, ofcourse, every author is entitled to bring out their own version of work, but doing a sloppy job and calling it a mystery thriller is an act of in justification to the genre itself.
Every mystery book has that disturbing element in it, which makes the reader impatient as well as excited while reading the story. There are loose ends, which frustrate the reader.
I saw no such thing in this book.
Even if there was , there were still some threads they could pick on, but they refused to do it.
That doesn't mean zero clues.
Oh did I tell you that while reading the book you could imagine who the killer was going to be? And trust me, you weren't wrong.
(Major spoiler ahead)
The killer in the end is ~raghu~, the fiancé.
Let's now talk about the girl.
She is an educated girl.
But I don't understand how you make a muslim girl look modern and empowered by making her fuck three guys and have an affair too?
I mean that is some serious new way of saying women empowerment.
Having sex isn't a bad thing.
But the way chetan bhagat writes about it, is so atrocious.
And miss zara is said to be good, kind , this and that.
There is no such thing which indiactes good about her.
I personally feel she is a selfish woman who falls in love with the first guy that shows interest on her.
What's with Chetan Bhagat and him stereotyping woman? Often the female lead come out as this rude arrogant cold woman, who is supposedly a good person, but she has commitment issues. Having commitment issues is completely alright, but creating a perception that every modern empowered woman is like, is what I would refer to as a black and white act of SEXISM.
Once again chetan bhagat does a good job is making an unattractive hero. And he pushes on this fact, ” See Iam unattractive, a looser. But the hottest chick of IIT is dating me. If I can have a girlfriend, so can you looser indian boys ".
I think this is how chetan bhagat sellls his novels.
Make the guy look like a looser. Introduce a beautiful girl. Add some desi family drama, a few fuck bombs, some bear bottle and a few social causes here and there.
Voila..a perfect best seller.
Oh , don't forget to make the author a character in the story too.
That adds some spicy tangy flavours to the book.
Now that you have the recipee I hope you work some shitty book like him, and make it a best seller.
And if you already are one, then trust me you are on the right part.
Because I think, the editors and publishing companies of India focuses on the name of the author, but not on the content.
How can you expect to get great writers in india, when guys like chetan bhagat continues to be best seller AUTHORS? (Iam not saying he never wrote a good book, but most of his words in the last half decade has been this cringe worthy tasteless broth in the name of a 5 star hotel)
Next time don't purchase a chetan bhagat book.
Maybe some new author's book with get more reviews who actually needs it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2018
The girl in room 105 is a thriller novel written by Chetan Bhagat. I just picked this book at random and I am definitely not disappointed. This book kept me hooked until the end. I started reading it at 5 pm and finished it by 12:30 am. I was so intrigued to find out who killed Zara lone (the girl who is murdered in the novel) that I couldn’t stop reading. Though my guess about the killer was absolutely right, I was wrong about motive and reason why she was killed. If you also guessed the name of the killer, let’s talk.
This story is about a girl named Zara Lone who was murdered on IIT Delhi campus in her own hostel room. Before dying, she calls her ex-boyfriend Keshav into her room who finds her dead. Keshav makes it his life’s mission to solve her murder’s mystery and his friends Saurabh helps him in that.
I love the suspense author has managed to keep throughout the novel. I really loved the character of Saurabh. He was a genuine friend, witty, funny, intelligent and supporting. Without his help, Keshav would not have been able to solve this case. Even though Keshav is the main character, Saurabh stole my heart.
If you are looking for a thriller book for a weekend then this book is definitely a catch.
This story is about a girl named Zara Lone who was murdered on IIT Delhi campus in her own hostel room. Before dying, she calls her ex-boyfriend Keshav into her room who finds her dead. Keshav makes it his life’s mission to solve her murder’s mystery and his friends Saurabh helps him in that.
I love the suspense author has managed to keep throughout the novel. I really loved the character of Saurabh. He was a genuine friend, witty, funny, intelligent and supporting. Without his help, Keshav would not have been able to solve this case. Even though Keshav is the main character, Saurabh stole my heart.
If you are looking for a thriller book for a weekend then this book is definitely a catch.
October 9, 2018
I finished reading this book in 6 hours. It is a murder mystery. The story is about Keshav Rajpurohit. His ex-girlfriend Zara Lone gets murdered when he goes to wish her in her hostel room no 105 on her birthday. After that he decides to solve the mystery by himself. A lot of characters are involved but the way this chap confronts terrorists and reach to the core of the case is worth praising. Well, you can always read the full and detailed review here: http://www.keveinbooksnreviews.in/201...
October 29, 2018
2.5 stars
October 19, 2018
To avoid being typecast as a cutesy writer adept at silly romances, the author attempts a murder mystery interspersed with half-homilies on Kashmir . The romance is less but the silliness remains. The eponymous girl is characterised so badly that no sympathy remains in the end.The last Chetan novel I enjoyed was "The 3 mistakes of my life" which had a plot tailor-made for blockbuster cinema. Since then, all his novels have been mistakes.
January 7, 2019
I had read the first book by Chetan Bhagat (hence forward will be referred as CB) when it came out 15 years back, and remember not liking it at all. However, the book became a national sensation, and in no time, CB became a household name amongst English speaking Indians.
No matter how much I disliked the book, I can't deny the contribution of CB to Indian reading populace. Indian reading era can be easily demarcated by the arrival of CB. Pre CB era, the occasional readers of India used to depend predominantly on American crime writers, who wrote thrilling yet completely unrelatable stuff about white blondes kissing Washington politicians in tight suit or hat wearing detectives nabbing serial killers in cities that they can't find in the map. Post CB, there is a sudden burst of paperback writers who write about college-going class-bunking bike-riding old-monk drinking boys falling in love with mall-going instagram-using liberal girls in shorts. Suddenly the Indian writing shelves became the biggest section of the bookstores.
CB has inspired many Indians to read and write.
After 15 year of reading his first book, I decided to check CB's latest offering to see his growth as a writer. And sadly, what I read, filled me with disgust and remorse. I have no problem with the story of this book, which is, to be honest, a run-of-the-mill kind of whodunit. I have no problem with the characters, which are stereotypical. I raised my eyebrows multiple times on the stealth advertising of brands and apps, but I moved on taking that as today's marketing norm. But, what irritated me the most is the quality of writing - the book is nothing but a garbage pile of juvenile conversations filled with cheesy lines.
My concern with the writing is that it is not only reflective of the author's intentions and manipulations, but also speaks a lot about the readers' choice and caliber. After all CB is the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history.
I believe, as a writer CB has a much bigger responsibility compared to others in the field. I know expecting CB to write a good book, is like expecting Salman Khan to make a meaningful movie. But is it too much to expect a writer that taught India to read, now to inspire India to read better?
No matter how much I disliked the book, I can't deny the contribution of CB to Indian reading populace. Indian reading era can be easily demarcated by the arrival of CB. Pre CB era, the occasional readers of India used to depend predominantly on American crime writers, who wrote thrilling yet completely unrelatable stuff about white blondes kissing Washington politicians in tight suit or hat wearing detectives nabbing serial killers in cities that they can't find in the map. Post CB, there is a sudden burst of paperback writers who write about college-going class-bunking bike-riding old-monk drinking boys falling in love with mall-going instagram-using liberal girls in shorts. Suddenly the Indian writing shelves became the biggest section of the bookstores.
CB has inspired many Indians to read and write.
After 15 year of reading his first book, I decided to check CB's latest offering to see his growth as a writer. And sadly, what I read, filled me with disgust and remorse. I have no problem with the story of this book, which is, to be honest, a run-of-the-mill kind of whodunit. I have no problem with the characters, which are stereotypical. I raised my eyebrows multiple times on the stealth advertising of brands and apps, but I moved on taking that as today's marketing norm. But, what irritated me the most is the quality of writing - the book is nothing but a garbage pile of juvenile conversations filled with cheesy lines.
My concern with the writing is that it is not only reflective of the author's intentions and manipulations, but also speaks a lot about the readers' choice and caliber. After all CB is the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history.
I believe, as a writer CB has a much bigger responsibility compared to others in the field. I know expecting CB to write a good book, is like expecting Salman Khan to make a meaningful movie. But is it too much to expect a writer that taught India to read, now to inspire India to read better?
March 2, 2021
I don't know why does it happen and I end up supporting and writing about the reason why I like authors like Chetan Bhagat or Durgesh Dutta but I don't understand the extreme hate towards Mr. Bhagat. Is the story lacks something sure I am not saying it's a masterwork but there is certainly scope for lighters books which you can hash out in a day or two well with my current schedule it took me a little longer to finish it but still I finished it quicker than other books.
Coming to this book like everybody would tell you this time over the story is a murder mystery and it's handled in a good manner. People who are complaining about the sloppy investigation by main protagonist should remember that Keshav and Saurabh are smarter than normal but still they are simple fools. I liked the characters and the reveal too though I had suspected the culprit but somehow my but the story beats confused my simple mind too, after all I never claimed to be smart one myself :P. I liked it and let's hope that Mr. Bhagat comes up with another good book next time over too after all he has his ups and downs too.
My dream of being a writer is realized and I am now a Goodreads Author. People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genres but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books that are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
Coming to this book like everybody would tell you this time over the story is a murder mystery and it's handled in a good manner. People who are complaining about the sloppy investigation by main protagonist should remember that Keshav and Saurabh are smarter than normal but still they are simple fools. I liked the characters and the reveal too though I had suspected the culprit but somehow my but the story beats confused my simple mind too, after all I never claimed to be smart one myself :P. I liked it and let's hope that Mr. Bhagat comes up with another good book next time over too after all he has his ups and downs too.
My dream of being a writer is realized and I am now a Goodreads Author. People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genres but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books that are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
October 10, 2018
Watch my video review of "The Girl in Room 105" here: https://youtu.be/OQz4pBJI1qg
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed reading this one! Firstly, it is a murder mystery, which is not something that Chetan Bhagat is known for. I think the author did a great job in the plot and the characters, and I was shocked with the twist in the end because I did not see that coming at all. In a lot of these murder mysteries, you keep guessing as to who could be the mastermind behind it all, but the author successfully shocks you in the end with something you wouldn’t have expected. So I really applaud him for writing a novel which is outside his comfort zone from romance and angst and trying something new. Secondly, the author has managed to nicely blend some humor and romance into the book, and I really thought Keshav’s friend Saurab was hilarious.
Overall, Is this the Best Chetan Bhagat book I have read? Probably not because I did like a few others of his. Is this the best murder mystery every written? Probably not because I have read better. But having said that, this is a very interesting book to read, which held my interest and kept me guessing as to what could happen next and for that, I give this book 4/5 stars.
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed reading this one! Firstly, it is a murder mystery, which is not something that Chetan Bhagat is known for. I think the author did a great job in the plot and the characters, and I was shocked with the twist in the end because I did not see that coming at all. In a lot of these murder mysteries, you keep guessing as to who could be the mastermind behind it all, but the author successfully shocks you in the end with something you wouldn’t have expected. So I really applaud him for writing a novel which is outside his comfort zone from romance and angst and trying something new. Secondly, the author has managed to nicely blend some humor and romance into the book, and I really thought Keshav’s friend Saurab was hilarious.
Overall, Is this the Best Chetan Bhagat book I have read? Probably not because I did like a few others of his. Is this the best murder mystery every written? Probably not because I have read better. But having said that, this is a very interesting book to read, which held my interest and kept me guessing as to what could happen next and for that, I give this book 4/5 stars.
May 21, 2019
It is like Chetan Bhagat suddenly decided he will write a Ravi Subramanian kind of book with the following components:
A love story (typical CB style - cheesy AF) + a murder mystery - the main component - to be solved by two amateur sleuths , in other words 2 IIT grads (buddy-cop style, it works on and off) + Kashmir conflict ( just skimmed the surface)
Not too bad; Nothing great either. I guessed the killer from the beginning. But I wouldn't say CB has failed badly in writing a thriller.
Rating: 3.5 stars - my okay-ish rating.
A love story (typical CB style - cheesy AF) + a murder mystery - the main component - to be solved by two amateur sleuths , in other words 2 IIT grads (buddy-cop style, it works on and off) + Kashmir conflict ( just skimmed the surface)
Not too bad; Nothing great either. I guessed the killer from the beginning. But I wouldn't say CB has failed badly in writing a thriller.
Rating: 3.5 stars - my okay-ish rating.
October 22, 2019
I read this book like weeks ago but I just got around to writing a review. Now, I usually never write reviews. But this was something special.
Here’s the thing.
I have OFFICIALLY lost all faith in Indian authors.
I mean every single page physically hurt me? I guessed the ‘so-called’ twist before the mystery even fucking began? The characters were (like always) underwhelming.
The guy was an ass (like always)
But he felt wronged (like always)
Oh and there was a side-kick. I can’t exactly remember his best friend’s name now (and I don’t want to go near this book again). BUT IT WAS SO SAD.
I mean it felt like he was really trying hard to be funny? And he just...wasn’t? it was like at the end of every ‘serious’ scene he would say something totally random that just didn’t make sense. But Chetan Bhagat probably has a great sense of humor.
But the cringiest part is that this book did not actually feel like a book? It was like he was writing a script for a Bollywood movie?
I mean this book screamed “MAKE A MOVIE ON ME”
Here’s why I think that this book was just another sad attempt by Mr. Bhagat to bag another movie:
KASHMIRI MUSLIM girl (check)
TERRORIST angle (check)
CORRUPTION (check)
RAPISTS (check)
FAMILY DRAMA (check)
POLITICS (check)
A side-kick who is HILARIOUS (check)
KASHMIR KASHMIR KASHMIR (check check check)
MUSLIM MUSLIM MUSLIM (check check check)
I mean, honestly, isn’t that a recipe for good ol’ Bollywood? I’m sure these Directors are all fighting over who gets this movie right now (note the sarcasm here).
BUT you probably think that I hated it all. Nope. There is something different about this book.
You think its a love story huh? You couldn’t be more wrongs honey.
THAT’S how this book is different. It’s not a love story.
IT’S AN UNLOVE STORY.
WOW. THAT’S A FRICKIN CONCEPT. THAT’S WHAT I CALL GENIUS.
...
Okay so I’ll just end this by saying -
Read it if you think life is too long
Here’s the thing.
I have OFFICIALLY lost all faith in Indian authors.
I mean every single page physically hurt me? I guessed the ‘so-called’ twist before the mystery even fucking began? The characters were (like always) underwhelming.
The guy was an ass (like always)
But he felt wronged (like always)
Oh and there was a side-kick. I can’t exactly remember his best friend’s name now (and I don’t want to go near this book again). BUT IT WAS SO SAD.
I mean it felt like he was really trying hard to be funny? And he just...wasn’t? it was like at the end of every ‘serious’ scene he would say something totally random that just didn’t make sense. But Chetan Bhagat probably has a great sense of humor.
But the cringiest part is that this book did not actually feel like a book? It was like he was writing a script for a Bollywood movie?
I mean this book screamed “MAKE A MOVIE ON ME”
Here’s why I think that this book was just another sad attempt by Mr. Bhagat to bag another movie:
KASHMIRI MUSLIM girl (check)
TERRORIST angle (check)
CORRUPTION (check)
RAPISTS (check)
FAMILY DRAMA (check)
POLITICS (check)
A side-kick who is HILARIOUS (check)
KASHMIR KASHMIR KASHMIR (check check check)
MUSLIM MUSLIM MUSLIM (check check check)
I mean, honestly, isn’t that a recipe for good ol’ Bollywood? I’m sure these Directors are all fighting over who gets this movie right now (note the sarcasm here).
BUT you probably think that I hated it all. Nope. There is something different about this book.
You think its a love story huh? You couldn’t be more wrongs honey.
THAT’S how this book is different. It’s not a love story.
IT’S AN UNLOVE STORY.
WOW. THAT’S A FRICKIN CONCEPT. THAT’S WHAT I CALL GENIUS.
...
Okay so I’ll just end this by saying -
Read it if you think life is too long
November 22, 2025
I Picked up this book , 'cause i wanted some light reading, something that connects with an Indian mind, so that i don't have to imagine unknown locations. I wanted to read something that connects with Indian Lives and wanted something , that does not stress me with whatsgoingtohappen next !
And Chetan Bhagat always comes up with the perfect recipe.
When you read Chetan Bhagat's Book, you read it expecting
1. Vocabulary that needs no dictionary to refer to
2. Instant connect with what's happening around.
3. Takes you back to your College days.
4. A Mystery that is full Masala Mix
5. A Typical Thrilling experience like that of a Bollywood Movie.
Girl in Room 105 is a murder mystery that happens in a girl's hostel in Delhi and trapped in the situation are two men , who are a failure as Engineers and took up teaching as profession.
The story moves from Ex who dumped one to pick another , to her murder, to alleys of Delhi, to terrorists of Kashmir and links to Terror Nation Pakistan.
Light Story telling like all his previous books.
Somewhere, I felt he borrowed the characters from Movie "Fukrey". But maybe, its my imagination, anyone else can differ.
Chetan Bhagat is an Author most of the readers love to hate ! So, Read this if you like Chetan Bhagat and Bollywood and light reading.
And Chetan Bhagat always comes up with the perfect recipe.
When you read Chetan Bhagat's Book, you read it expecting
1. Vocabulary that needs no dictionary to refer to
2. Instant connect with what's happening around.
3. Takes you back to your College days.
4. A Mystery that is full Masala Mix
5. A Typical Thrilling experience like that of a Bollywood Movie.
Girl in Room 105 is a murder mystery that happens in a girl's hostel in Delhi and trapped in the situation are two men , who are a failure as Engineers and took up teaching as profession.
The story moves from Ex who dumped one to pick another , to her murder, to alleys of Delhi, to terrorists of Kashmir and links to Terror Nation Pakistan.
Light Story telling like all his previous books.
Somewhere, I felt he borrowed the characters from Movie "Fukrey". But maybe, its my imagination, anyone else can differ.
Chetan Bhagat is an Author most of the readers love to hate ! So, Read this if you like Chetan Bhagat and Bollywood and light reading.
June 15, 2019
What's good about this book, is the interaction between the characters. Specially the lead characters Keshav and Saurabh aka Golu. Saurabh always had a funny angle even in a serious situation. That makes this book very interesting.
I had bit more expectations as there was a terrorism side to the plot; but unfortunately main incidences are results of personal motives.
I had bit more expectations as there was a terrorism side to the plot; but unfortunately main incidences are results of personal motives.
June 13, 2019
Completed this one finally! I started this book hoping to read another fine story by Chetan Bhagat as he tried a murder mystery for the first time... I was hoping he could recreate the magic of Five Point Someone again in this one.. But.. halfway through and I realized that I had to just complete this book somehow. The suspense was never really too good to hold the attention.. All in all one can read it for a light reading.. I like Chetan's style and the way he can narrate simple girl/boy next door stories...
October 18, 2018
One thing I liked about this book was the initial chapters. They created the curiosity and helped me read ahead but later I realised that if initial chapters didnt have that curiosity than book hadn't been read further like "The Indian girl".
Had expected something breathtaking this time but got a Crime patrol episode.
Had expected something breathtaking this time but got a Crime patrol episode.
December 1, 2018
Chetan Bhagat does a whodunit. Better than his last few books. At least I didn't skip pages. I think his last two books I skipped about 50% of the pages.
This one isn't all that bad. Predictable but readable. Anything I write here will be a spoiler so I'll stop.
This one isn't all that bad. Predictable but readable. Anything I write here will be a spoiler so I'll stop.
October 16, 2018
Better than his last couple of books, but not good enough. Only good thing is he tried new genre.
November 19, 2018
Nice novel and quite thrilling too!!
June 21, 2019
Hooked till the end. A quick finish.
October 10, 2018
I had started reading fiction novels after getting my hands upon Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone as I had heard a lot about it from my friends who had read the same. I remember it was also one of the initial days in college and while an introduction session whosoever described their hobby as reading, on being asked which book they have read, everyone named “Five Point Someone”. Out of curiosity, I picked up the book and liked the fun in the story telling of Chetan Bhagat and read all his four books that had released by that time. And since then I have read around 500 books out of which 90% are by Indian authors. It is just a default setting in my reading habit that I compare all the fiction books with Chetan Bhagat’s initial books which were great combination and balance of storytelling and humour.
I am just done reading Chetan Bhagat’s latest release “The Girl In Room 105” which has released just today itself and along with office, I have managed to read 300+ pages in whatever free time I got. Such is the craze for reading Chetan Bhagat even today despite worrying about what people would say about my reading choice as most people pretend to hate CB as he has goofed up with the English language quite often. But that’s okay. He anyway does not portray or claim to be a literary expert and accepts that he is just a story teller and not an English teacher.
CB has gone the thriller way this time with his latest release and I must say, it was a fine narration throughout the book as it ensures that you are curious about knowing who murdered the protagonist, Keshav’s girlfriend. The book starts in CB’s trademark style where in the Prologue, a character meets and tells him his whole story which CB pretends to be writing as dictated to him. The book has lot of characters and author has again ensured the chemistry between each one of them is nicely described to make the background of the story clear. The bond between Keshav and Saurabh is very nicely portrayed. The tuning between Keshav and policeman, Rana, is also very intelligently portrayed. CB has again taken care that in order to sound too intellectual, the book does not lose the simplicity and hence, keeps the timeline and narrative simple.
The locality of Delhi and Kashmir are nicely described in the book and author has ensured that it is used in the story quite significantly to give the locale descriptions. The first half of the book is interesting as you get introduced to new characters and want to understand who the possible murderer of the girl could be. But it’s in the second half where the book becomes quite slow and does not give any kind of twists and turns which can astonish the reader. Talking about the climax, the way the revelation of the murder scene is introduced and described is very childish and as expected from a thriller, there is no moment where the reader would drop the book or jump out of his bed in shock.
In the sake of maintaining his trademark style of writing simple stories, CB could not do complete justice to this thriller which could have been written 5 times better. Though this book is recommended for the new readers who haven’t read great thrillers and are still stuck in the genre of college romances. But for the thriller lovers, this book is a sure-shot disappointment. The terrorist thing is brought into the picture but left just like that without going deeper into it. Similarly, the girl is shown as a Muslim whereas boy belongs from the family that supports RSS but this angle has not been used even once in the book whereas a lot could have been done with this plot. Similarly, the way police leaves Keshav and his friend in spite of finding them at murder spot is disappointing in the initial phase of the story itself. CB has also promoted many brands upfront in this book which is quite evident and sounds foolish and obvious. This could have also been handled little more intelligently. Overall, this is a light read rather than a suspense thriller as been described in the synopsis and trailer of the book. I rate this one an average 3 stars out of 5.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA!!
I am just done reading Chetan Bhagat’s latest release “The Girl In Room 105” which has released just today itself and along with office, I have managed to read 300+ pages in whatever free time I got. Such is the craze for reading Chetan Bhagat even today despite worrying about what people would say about my reading choice as most people pretend to hate CB as he has goofed up with the English language quite often. But that’s okay. He anyway does not portray or claim to be a literary expert and accepts that he is just a story teller and not an English teacher.
CB has gone the thriller way this time with his latest release and I must say, it was a fine narration throughout the book as it ensures that you are curious about knowing who murdered the protagonist, Keshav’s girlfriend. The book starts in CB’s trademark style where in the Prologue, a character meets and tells him his whole story which CB pretends to be writing as dictated to him. The book has lot of characters and author has again ensured the chemistry between each one of them is nicely described to make the background of the story clear. The bond between Keshav and Saurabh is very nicely portrayed. The tuning between Keshav and policeman, Rana, is also very intelligently portrayed. CB has again taken care that in order to sound too intellectual, the book does not lose the simplicity and hence, keeps the timeline and narrative simple.
The locality of Delhi and Kashmir are nicely described in the book and author has ensured that it is used in the story quite significantly to give the locale descriptions. The first half of the book is interesting as you get introduced to new characters and want to understand who the possible murderer of the girl could be. But it’s in the second half where the book becomes quite slow and does not give any kind of twists and turns which can astonish the reader. Talking about the climax, the way the revelation of the murder scene is introduced and described is very childish and as expected from a thriller, there is no moment where the reader would drop the book or jump out of his bed in shock.
In the sake of maintaining his trademark style of writing simple stories, CB could not do complete justice to this thriller which could have been written 5 times better. Though this book is recommended for the new readers who haven’t read great thrillers and are still stuck in the genre of college romances. But for the thriller lovers, this book is a sure-shot disappointment. The terrorist thing is brought into the picture but left just like that without going deeper into it. Similarly, the girl is shown as a Muslim whereas boy belongs from the family that supports RSS but this angle has not been used even once in the book whereas a lot could have been done with this plot. Similarly, the way police leaves Keshav and his friend in spite of finding them at murder spot is disappointing in the initial phase of the story itself. CB has also promoted many brands upfront in this book which is quite evident and sounds foolish and obvious. This could have also been handled little more intelligently. Overall, this is a light read rather than a suspense thriller as been described in the synopsis and trailer of the book. I rate this one an average 3 stars out of 5.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA!!
October 17, 2018
The girl in the room 105.
One may presume the story must be about a girl and her insight as the story moves forward. But, precisely, the story is all about the boy who is madly in love with his ex and desperate to bring the murderer into the light.
> firstly, the story is so presumable for those readers who are into crime thrillers or even not. So, there is absolutely nothing much to exaggerate his creativity in the respective genre.
> the protagonist, keshav rajpurohit, is any usual guy whose life is running behind bars and waiting for the moment of getting back to his ex. Of course, there are some commendable qualities in him. But, sometimes, I personally feel there are times in the novel where the stupidity of him is beyond the permissible limit. His companion is a really funny guy who has no prominence except to pass humorous lines at inappropriate times.
I think, the intention of the author is to break the thrill by passing some funny jokes. I understand. But, excuse me, your friend is mourning for his ex, you are planning to eat something spicy this weekend. Wow. And hello, that's really funny.
>Leaving this issues apart, the author has really done a good job, ( on comparing to his previous books), and his depiction of the conscience, madness, unbalanced emotions, generic worries of the protoganist is really worthy of appreciation.
A reader can enjoy the read only when he has zero expectations, a bit of pushup to complete the book, and mostly patience.
One may presume the story must be about a girl and her insight as the story moves forward. But, precisely, the story is all about the boy who is madly in love with his ex and desperate to bring the murderer into the light.
> firstly, the story is so presumable for those readers who are into crime thrillers or even not. So, there is absolutely nothing much to exaggerate his creativity in the respective genre.
> the protagonist, keshav rajpurohit, is any usual guy whose life is running behind bars and waiting for the moment of getting back to his ex. Of course, there are some commendable qualities in him. But, sometimes, I personally feel there are times in the novel where the stupidity of him is beyond the permissible limit. His companion is a really funny guy who has no prominence except to pass humorous lines at inappropriate times.
I think, the intention of the author is to break the thrill by passing some funny jokes. I understand. But, excuse me, your friend is mourning for his ex, you are planning to eat something spicy this weekend. Wow. And hello, that's really funny.
>Leaving this issues apart, the author has really done a good job, ( on comparing to his previous books), and his depiction of the conscience, madness, unbalanced emotions, generic worries of the protoganist is really worthy of appreciation.
A reader can enjoy the read only when he has zero expectations, a bit of pushup to complete the book, and mostly patience.
October 19, 2018
Chetan Bhagat's books are always a bit too filmi and high on drama, and this book was no different. Funny in parts, with CB's trademark humour, it delves into the murder mystery of the girl who was killed in room 105. Keshav, the hapless ex-boyfriend, takes it upon himself to crack the mystery and follows an intriguing set to clues which eventually lead him to the killer.
The book starts off with a lot of promise with the premise of a jilted lover which can't get over his ex and the mysterious death of the girl. However, the story fails to connect emotionally and is full of stereotypes and caricatures. CB has attemped a new genre but fails to take up the pitch to the level of a suspense thriller. I had a lot of expectations from this book, especially after seeing the trailer, but some of them are sadly unmet.
I would recommend this book to die-hard CB lovers and no doubt, this book will also be converted into a Bollywood movie soon.
The book starts off with a lot of promise with the premise of a jilted lover which can't get over his ex and the mysterious death of the girl. However, the story fails to connect emotionally and is full of stereotypes and caricatures. CB has attemped a new genre but fails to take up the pitch to the level of a suspense thriller. I had a lot of expectations from this book, especially after seeing the trailer, but some of them are sadly unmet.
I would recommend this book to die-hard CB lovers and no doubt, this book will also be converted into a Bollywood movie soon.
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