Gamblejay I actually said the same thing about a week ago when i was running the a comparison on Harry Potter and the 25$ value spirit stones which is about 1250 spirit stones for that price and honestly although my math was way off in terms of word count and i discounted Harry Potter 1st book word count to about 35-40k considering i was simply doing guess work with the word count numbers, but the fact still remains 1250 ss is about 100-130 chapters depending on the story you're reading and the word count for that particular chapter or even spreading across multiple books still spreads out to 125k words per $25 (mind u that's CAD) if in US that's about $20 so either way that's 100% more words compared to HP book 1 as you have more factual numbers. Now people might argue "you can't compare these novels to Harry Potter'..... if that's the case then why are you reading? I certainly think some of these novels are on par with and even more superior to Harry Potter, and this is coming from someone who bought all 7 1st Edition books with the Hard Cover version twice and still have a complete set even now (only reason I don't have 2 sets is cuz my mom back in the day got pissed and destroyed them in rage :( she compensated me though, how I bought second set).
TLDR: Expensive? yes. Worth it? also yes. Story writing is a business. Always has been, will always be. We simply got used to the "free stuff" and completely forgot the nature of the industry, AKA we got spoiled. Not our fault, but you have to move on; either by continue reading or find another means of entertainment.