Integrated Chinese

Pros

• I use Integrated Chinese at university.
• I used Integrated Chinese as a beginner - they were decent! I don't do much textbook-style learning anymore when learning languages, but back when I did I liked the Integrated Chinese series.
• Integrated chinese, if genki has the Mary and Takeshi lore then integrated chinese had the Wang Peng and Liyou lore, I won't spoil it but let's just say it's just as wild as genki
• I've got NCPR1, and I've read about half of it, but it didn't appeal to me as much as IC.
• Integrated Chinese is also good [ i heard ] but yet I have to try it.

Cons

• Get the HSK textbooks (or some other well known textbooks like integrated Chinese etc) and go through them
• Not sure why you are picking that series. I liked the series for a while, but HSK is standard for working or studying in China.
• A lot of us started with Integrated Chinese. They're nothing special, but they're alright.
• The HSK standard course or New Practical Chinese Reader or Integrated Chinese are all free on zlib.
• For reference, I'm using Integrated Chinese. I always stumble upon this type of sentence.