Hope this review is helpful to someone, as I've used reviews on Amazon for years to know which products I should purchase, so thank you review community!  For the Moleskine, I have several complaints because this is my first Moleskine product, and it so did not live up to the hype, or the price for the quality of the material.  First off, the paper is much thinner than I thought it would be, or think it should be.  especially for the price!  I bought these cahiers so as to have thinner books that, when combined, would add up to the thickness of the regular 240 page black notebook.  I should have bought the regular notebook, as these do not have the features of the notebooks - like elastic band or expandable pocket (though the cahiers do have a back "pocket" that is really a half-slit cardboard back).  The covers of the cahiers are just plain colored cardboard, and not nice at all - they remind me of the 2 pocket folders you buy at WalMart.  The most important, and worst, thing of all is the paper quality.  It is much, much thinner than it should be for the price paid.  I use a very fine tip fountain pen, and the paper does not pleasantly "soak" up the ink, AND the writing is very visible from the other side of the paper, making writing on both sides disappointing unlikely.  I have used a Standard Series Quill legal pad this morning, provided by my non-profit company - very inexpensive, in other words - and the quality of paper is comparable, in my estimation.  I will likely never purchase another Moleskine product, as other products I've investigated sound exactly the same (Piccadilly, CR Gibson Markings) at a fraction of the cost.  From what I understand, Moleskine has gone cheap on the quality but kept the cost extraordinarily high.  the greed of that business model is probably the worst part about this purchase to me, and I certainly won't support it in the future.
Hope this review is helpful to someone, as I've used reviews on Amazon for years to know which products I should purchase, so thank you review community! For the Moleskine, I have several complaints because this is my first Moleskine product, and it so did not live up to the hype, or the price for the quality of the material. First off, the paper is much thinner than I thought it would be, or think it should be. especially for the price! I bought these cahiers so as to have thinner books that, when combined, would add up to the thickness of the regular 240 page black notebook. I should have bought the regular notebook, as these do not have the features of the notebooks - like elastic band or expandable pocket (though the cahiers do have a back "pocket" that is really a half-slit cardboard back). The covers of the cahiers are just plain colored cardboard, and not nice at all - they remind me of the 2 pocket folders you buy at WalMart. The most important, and worst, thing of all is the paper quality. It is much, much thinner than it should be for the price paid. I use a very fine tip fountain pen, and the paper does not pleasantly "soak" up the ink, AND the writing is very visible from the other side of the paper, making writing on both sides disappointing unlikely. I have used a Standard Series Quill legal pad this morning, provided by my non-profit company - very inexpensive, in other words - and the quality of paper is comparable, in my estimation. I will likely never purchase another Moleskine product, as other products I've investigated sound exactly the same (Piccadilly, CR Gibson Markings) at a fraction of the cost. From what I understand, Moleskine has gone cheap on the quality but kept the cost extraordinarily high. the greed of that business model is probably the worst part about this purchase to me, and I certainly won't support it in the future.