Love the look, love the size and scale, and the fireplace heats well. But...I’ve put together countless pieces of furniture like this, from simple to complex. I did the two side shelves first, and they went together easily and without any problems. The fireplace was a different matter. The sides and front pieces kept coming apart, so that it looked like a comedy sketch as I worked. I got hubby to help me with this part, but even with both of us trying to hold the pieces together, it would still fall apart as we worked.It got to the point where hubby was ready to throw it in the trash but I didn’t want to give up and kept extending the length of my patience (more than I knew that I had, actually...). Anyway, the instructions have only pictures, NO words. That wasn’t the problem but it didn’t help. the problem was the locking pieces that the screws fit into. They kept pulling out of the particle board, and the pegs were loose they really didn’t help hold it together for assembly.So, after the utter frustration we decided to put the bottom on and try to build it from there. After we got top & bottom on enough to stabilize it, then we could put in the front piece and go from there. I don’t cuss. But I seriously considered it and probably thought of a few choice words during the whole thing.Once assembled, we both love it. It’s kind of like giving birth to a baby: a real pain but then you forget about that part because you’re so happy to have the little dear.As a Prime member, I buy a LOT of stuff from amazon. Living out in a rural area far from a city, amazon is my go-to source for many of my purchases. I must rely heavily on your product reviews to help me decide which item is best for me -- especially when I can't actually see, touch or hold the product.I take my personal product reviews seriously, and if something proves to be a piece of junk, I'll tell you - and if it's great or mediocre, I'll tell you that, too. My policy is to try to write the kind of reviews I want to read and to update my reviews if for some reason the product fails to perform as advertised during the period it's warrantied for. I do ask that if you found this review helpful in making your decision, that you please click on the "yes" button below.I just received this and put it together yesterday. When all is said and done, I'm really happy with it. I'll update this review if I have any issues with longevity or the function of the insert, but so far so good.It is shipped & delivered in three separate boxes. Some are quite heavy, so if you're not able to lift heavy objects, make sure you have someone to help you bring them inside.I recommend putting the center part together first (the part that holds the fireplace insert). That's the hardest part. The picture-only instructions leave a little to be desired (I like to have written instructions too, in case I can't decipher the picture), but they're better than some that I've gotten in the past. It's probably not meant to be a job for one person, but I'm a single woman living alone and I managed just fine. I did use a drill to screw in the screws instead of a screwdriver, because I am lazy. The flimsy cardboard backing for the side shelves came slightly cracked, which kinda sucks, but I wasn't about to give up after I got that far. You can barely tell, anyway.The fireplace insert is pretty nice. You can set the brightness level for the internal light, the flames, and the logs. You can have just flames lit, or just logs lit, or whatever variation you might want. You can have the "fire" on without the heat. The heat can be set to a temperature, or you can just have it constantly on. It also has timer options, starting with 30 minutes and going up to... 9 hours, I believe? and it'll shut everything off when the time is up. It puts out a decent amount of heat and warms my living room nicely.One thing to note: if you're looking for a fake fireplace that is the size of a real fireplace, this isn't it. I'm not sure you can actually find one that big, unless you spend thousands of dollars. You can buy inserts and frame out a mantle on your own if you want, but this is way easier and cheaper, so... I think this is a fantastic option at a great price.There as a lot of pieces but once assembled it looks pretty good. Fire box looks good and it does kick out some heat if you want it. We are satisfied.