Moleskines are oft regarded as THE classic premium notebook. The cover is soft, velvety almost, and the pages a pleasing muted ivory color. They come in many different varieties. They have a huge cult following of people, many who are amazing artists, more who just enjoy writing their thoughts or stories down for personal enjoyment. There are websites devoted to modifications and everyday uses for them. In short, when someone cares about what they're writing, they'll often write it in a Moleskine.

So why only two stars?

It has nothing to do with the Amazon's shipping times--which shouldn't be mentioned in product reviews at all--or a need to troll people for liking them so much. If the notebook works for you and you love it, that's awesome. And I used to be one of those people. My Moleskine in filled with story notes, front to back.

But the allure faded when I ventured back into a hobby I'd strayed from several years back, before I'd discovered Moleskines. When I began collecting fountain pens again and amassing huge stockpiles of inks of all different types I discovered these notebooks' Achilles' heel.

But let's review some facts about them first:

- The notebooks are manufactured by a company based in Milan, Italy. They are an Italian company through and through.
- The notebooks are designed in Italy.
- The notebooks have acid-free paper.
- The notebooks are NOT manufactured in Italy, but rather in China (with a small number of notebook models being made in Turkey or Vietnam).
- The quality control of the notebook "hardware" (cover, bands, bookmark) is great.
- The quality control of the actual paper is woefully lacking,

And that's where my problem with the notebooks lies.

The paper in these notebooks is thin; prone to severe feathering, show through, and bleed through; and does not provide for much in the way of ink shading.

Does this matter id you're using a ballpoint? Mostly no, though show through is bad with all types of ink. But even though ballpoint ink isn't absorbed into the paper, the pages are so thin that you can see right through them.

Does this matter if you use rollerballs, gels, or--as is the case with my main use--fountain pens? Absolutely.

While the problems vary from ink to ink, feathering and bleed through with these notebooks is atrocious. If you're using anything but the finest nib and the driest ink you won't be able to use the backs of the pages on which you're writing. And if you're a fan of inks that shade heavily, forget about it. The paper is far too absorbent to let any shading happen.

The only inks I haven't had a problem with are very light ballpoint refills (specifically the turquoise Fisher Space Pen refills). They're light enough to not show through, and because they're ballpoints the ink isn't absorbed into the paper.

If you want some actual quality European paper in almost the exact same notebook form (and I mean almost exactly the same), get a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rhodia-Orange-Webnotebook-5-5x8-25-Lined/dp/B0029FE1J0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Rhodia Orange Webnotebook 5.5x8.25 Lined</a>. Rhodia paper is some of the best in the world (they're owned by Clairefontaine, whose paper is to die for). With the Rhodia paper you will not experience bleed through. You will not experience show through. You will be able to see the inks' shading characteristics. And even the wettest blob of an inky line you can lay down will not feather. Yes, the Webnotebooks are twice the price, but they are one hundred percent absolutely worth it if what you're after is actual quality, not a fad.

However, if you write with ballpoints or pencil and not with anything that lays down a wet line, the Moleskines won't do you wrong.
Moleskines are oft regarded as THE classic premium notebook. The cover is soft, velvety almost, and the pages a pleasing muted ivory color. They come in many different varieties. They have a huge cult following of people, many who are amazing artists, more who just enjoy writing their thoughts or stories down for personal enjoyment. There are websites devoted to modifications and everyday uses for them. In short, when someone cares about what they're writing, they'll often write it in a Moleskine. So why only two stars? It has nothing to do with the Amazon's shipping times--which shouldn't be mentioned in product reviews at all--or a need to troll people for liking them so much. If the notebook works for you and you love it, that's awesome. And I used to be one of those people. My Moleskine in filled with story notes, front to back. But the allure faded when I ventured back into a hobby I'd strayed from several years back, before I'd discovered Moleskines. When I began collecting fountain pens again and amassing huge stockpiles of inks of all different types I discovered these notebooks' Achilles' heel. But let's review some facts about them first:

- The notebooks are manufactured by a company based in Milan, Italy. They are an Italian company through and through. - The notebooks are designed in Italy. - The notebooks have acid-free paper. - The notebooks are NOT manufactured in Italy, but rather in China (with a small number of notebook models being made in Turkey or Vietnam). - The quality control of the notebook "hardware" (cover, bands, bookmark) is great. - The quality control of the actual paper is woefully lacking,

And that's where my problem with the notebooks lies. The paper in these notebooks is thin; prone to severe feathering, show through, and bleed through; and does not provide for much in the way of ink shading. Does this matter id you're using a ballpoint? Mostly no, though show through is bad with all types of ink. But even though ballpoint ink isn't absorbed into the paper, the pages are so thin that you can see right through them. Does this matter if you use rollerballs, gels, or--as is the case with my main use--fountain pens? Absolutely. While the problems vary from ink to ink, feathering and bleed through with these notebooks is atrocious. If you're using anything but the finest nib and the driest ink you won't be able to use the backs of the pages on which you're writing. And if you're a fan of inks that shade heavily, forget about it. The paper is far too absorbent to let any shading happen. The only inks I haven't had a problem with are very light ballpoint refills (specifically the turquoise Fisher Space Pen refills). They're light enough to not show through, and because they're ballpoints the ink isn't absorbed into the paper. If you want some actual quality European paper in almost the exact same notebook form (and I mean almost exactly the same), get a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Rhodia-Orange-Webnotebook-5-5x8-25-Lined/dp/B0029FE1J0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Rhodia Orange Webnotebook 5. 5x8. 25 Lined</a>. Rhodia paper is some of the best in the world (they're owned by Clairefontaine, whose paper is to die for). With the Rhodia paper you will not experience bleed through. You will not experience show through. You will be able to see the inks' shading characteristics. And even the wettest blob of an inky line you can lay down will not feather. Yes, the Webnotebooks are twice the price, but they are one hundred percent absolutely worth it if what you're after is actual quality, not a fad. However, if you write with ballpoints or pencil and not with anything that lays down a wet line, the Moleskines won't do you wrong.