Nice bookshelf! Looks great and very heavy/sturdy. Not the greatest instructions but once you get the hang of it it goes together smoothly. Correct, it is not solid wood, it is laminate over particle board, BUT the "wood grain" varies on each shelf and it is realistic. Design style is cool. One of the poles was slightly dented but it was at the back and did not affect the functionality or appearance of the piece. My son loves it! One thing to note: the screws that have threading on one end/black around middle/screw top that go with the circular cams -- SCREW THREADED END INTO SHELF THEN INSERT CIRCULAR SCREW TOP INTO SIDE HOLE then rotate "cam" and you're good to go! I didn't know which end went in the circular silver cam opening and pondered this for too long so hope I can save you some time. One thing is the price went down 30% after I purchased this which is annoying but nothing you can do. Overall I recommend this bookshelf.