This is a solid ladder bookcase; however, the side rails are 3 pieces and you can clearly see where they connect. From afar it looks great, but up close you can see that it is multiple pieces. The bottoms of each shelf have noticeable indentations for where you screw it in. When you are sitting in a chair/bed, you can see these and they are pretty large. Overall a nice piece but the closer you get to it, the more imperfections you see