Just really a boring, meandering book. But even if you do like a character-driven plot, you may hate The Woman Upstairs. The characters have no consistency. Nora, a 3rd grade teacher who makes miniature rooms on the side (she's an artist) is the narrator; however, she reads more like a stiff prude with a PhD in Lit who doesn't have any sense of wonder or joy necessary to be a good 3rd grade teachers. She's constantly told that she is, indeed, a good 3rd grade teacher. (????) Basically, if she weren't a 3rd grade teacher, she wouldn't meet her new student Reza Shahid and then couldn't leech onto this family.

Skandar Shahid is an ethics professor who both lacks ethics and seems only interested in political activism. Why not make him a political science professor? His wife, Sierna, is a famous author who makes good money. He could be a stay-at-home dad/political activist.

Sirena Shahid sucks up all the light in the room--it's just part of her personality--but Nora feels like a shadow in comparison, and, unfortunately, we're stuck in Nora's head because she's narrating.

Were I to describe this book to someone, I would say I think it's about obsession (and maybe stalking?) and deciding whose art has to mean something and whose does not, and willingly being used as a babysitter/listener/assistant. 

And that the ending is a big thumb's down, because never in my life have I met a real person who got angry and decided that was their motivation to "really live." <<This isn't a spoiler because you have no idea what I'm talking about; after reading the novel, I barely know what this means.

If I weren't reading The Woman Upstairs for a book club, I would have DNF'd it very early.