The Girl in Room 105 by Chetan Bhagat

The name suggests that the story is about a girl living in Room 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, 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 just using his grey cells which have become equivalent to Hercule Poirot by teaching Mathematics in an IIT coaching centre. As for the Kashmir issue which is thrown in like oregano flakes, I am no expert on Kashmir as well 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, 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.