Monarch Specialties2532 Bookshelf, Bookcase, Etagere, 4 Tier, 55" H, Office, Bedroom, Laminate, White, Contemporary, Modern Bookcase-55 Style, 47.25" L x 12" W x 54.75" H

This is a very attractive, relatively inexpensive book case.The book case arrives in an incredibly heavy and well packed box. It took about ten minutes and a razor knife to fight my way through the packing materials. Our instructions were stuck between two pieces of packing styrofoam below all the construction materials. I had to go through the pile of packing material that we were about to throw out in order to locate them. Given the large number of pieces that constitute this book case, there is no way to infer your way through assembly. You have been warned.Assembly itself was relatively easy, and only took about 30 minutes using a power drill. That said, there are ALOT of pieces. While the instructions are clear, you definitely need to pay attention (since many of the pieces look alike). Rather than trying to match the pieces in front of you to the instruction illustrations, just looks for small stickers with numbers that are stuck on all of the pieces. The assembly materials contain a bottle of white glue, which is used to better secure wood dowels to the larger pieces. Although I have no reason to doubt the effectiveness of the wood glue provided, I opted to use Gorilla-brand glue (since this book shelf is going in my daughters room, and I want the pieces bonded as strongly as possible). Once everything was assembled and the Gorilla glue had cured, the book shelf was pretty sturdy (although we will still buy wall anchor, give our intended use). All of the hardware was hidden pretty effectively by installation, and white patches are provided to cover some pilot holes that are on the inside of the book shelf. Overall, it looks pretty good.Would definitely purchase this book case again.

So, I did not have high expectations. This same bookcase is offered at a price more than $100 greater than this one, so I expected it to be damaged or poorly packaged. But, it was boxed and wrapped in bubble wrap, arrived unscathed. It took my daughter and I a bit of time to assemble it, but the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I would purchase again. The unit is made of laminate covered particle board. Looks great from a few feet back. The finish is not matte, but also not gloss.

I'm going to bottom-line it for you:Pros:-Cool design-Price isn't bad, considering it's a much cooler design than your standard, boring shelf.-Fast shipping available (I think it was prime eligible, if I remember correctly).Cons:-Instructions have *pics only* -- no words -- and the pics STINK too! I don't know who made the pics but they should be fired -- immediately. That practice drives me crazy with any assembly, let alone one that is relatively complex, like this one (look at how the shelves alternate and you'll get an idea of what I mean by 'relatively complex'. This isn't your standard bookshelf that you just pop together without even needing to read instructions.-After *nearly an entire day* of assembling, the shelf was so unstable that I was afraid it would come crashing down if I put anything on it.-They do give you some wood glue to make it "more stable" but it's total junk.-Ended up DIS-assembling the entire thing to add carpenter's glue to the whole ledge of each shelf *praying* that that would make it a useable shelf, instead of something so unstable that it swayed from side to side with the slightest amount of pressure.-Jury is still out on whether my rigged-up 'fix' worked.In summary: cool design but complete and utter disappointment.

Reading the reviews for this bookcase, I was a little hesitant to purchase. I thought if it was really flimsy or cheaply made that I would just put it in the basement. Well to our surprise, it was just what we needed in every way. We just remodeled our bathroom with a Japanese soaking tub, large shower and stone sink. The unit was assembled in half an hour. The design is unique and fit in the space perfectly. We bought it as a temporary piece of furniture, only to decide that nothing else would work as well.

Just put it together yesterday. Certainly looks good in my living room. It is made in Taiwan with compressed wood, not solid wood as the description implied. But I guess you don't get solid wood by $183. I used power drill to make a few holes bigger otherwise screws won't go in. Overall it is good.

Very poor quality made in China out of old style, heavy particle board complete with paper stickers to cover the holes. Took two hours to assemble and once finished, it was so abhorrent my wife forced me to take out of the house immediately and put in the garage. If you just have to have it be 100% sure because you will not be returning this for a refund.The re-stocking fee is 30% (around $60) and the box weighs close to 90 lbs so the freight back to Texas is over $150 USPS. You can do the math. Also, partially assembled are not returnable anyway. They will give you a return label but know full well no one in their right mind will return it unless you live near the warehouse in Katy TX, do not open the box and take to the warehouse yourself (probably a running joke over there). I ended up just taking over to Goodwill. I just threw away $200 less the $1 or so I save in tax from the donation.

We bought 2, and love them. Even though they are MDF, they are very thick and sturdy and look great. Instructions were all visual, but well done and easy to understand. Everything goes together very well, all the predrills matched up, so everything fit like a dream. I'm not super handy, but with the "help" of my 11 year old daughter we built the first one in a about 2 hours, the 2nd in 1 1/2 hours. Hardest part was unpacking it, super sturdy with LOTS of tape and styrofoam.

I love how this bookshelf looks in my living room. It is engineered wood but not so noticeable in the dark color. It was very easy to put together and took less than a hour to do it by myself. I did choose to omit the final "foot" so that it could rest flat on the floor.