I've never submitted a review, but this was worth it. These are so gorgeous, unique and modern. The height of the shelves easily fits all my old textbooks and 3-ring binders. The tallest of the shelves even fits my small but important record collection.
The assembly itself is not mentally challenging - Furniture Assembly for Dummies - but there are 80 wood screws with blunt tips, and they don't screw in particularly easily. I suggest having a power drill ready and it will be much easier; if you don't as I didn't (mine broke on the third screw...bad timing), be prepared to put some weight into it. Also, another review mentioned needing a short screwdriver to do the corner bolts, and that is absolutely correct. Finally, I found it was easier actually to assemble it bottom up than on its side. I'm only 5'4" and I did it that way just fine. In the end, it's very sturdy and I've got it stacked with books and am not worried about it at all.
Overall, definitely worth it to have a great, versatile piece like this.