First and foremost, know that this journal is a hefty boy. By many counts, this should be considered an upside - thick paper means minimal ghosting. I could use all manner of pens, fineliners, and markers (though not ALL markers) that were a disaster in a classic Moleskine, and this Ottergami took the ink beautifully.HOWEVER, that also means it is a chunky, heavy book. Heavier to carry around (my whole reason from switching from my Classic Happy Planner to a BuJu was portability), and it doesn't fit in the little leather binder/cover that I could fit classic moleskines into. (This was partially my fault for not measuring accurately - the Ottergami is slightly wider than the comparable Moleskine, but the thickness also impacted the closure of the folder).This not necessarily a bad quality - and it is *not* the reason for the dropped star - I just wanted to point this out first because this level of thickness may or may not be what you are looking for. When shopping online, you don't get to feel and hold a book in your hand first - and even though you read the paper's weight in numbers, your brain may not make the connection of just how much of an impact it makes.The reasons for the dropped star (and really my only cons aside from personal preference for size) are:1. The calendar stencil. "But, this is about the journal!" you may say. Well, the reason I chose this journal over some others is because it came with some stencils. Unfortunately, the monthly calendar stencil is only 3 blocks across, which means if you simply use the stencil on both sides of a two page spread to make your month at a glance....you're going to have six day weeks, which is going to be a problem. You can reposition the stencil on one side to add a seventh column of boxes, but this means if you don't precount your dots and align it right, you may end up with the seventh day running up to the edge (or falling off) of the page. It was also a hassle to line up the stencil with the already drawn lines so that the seventh day wasn't tilted or slanted ever so slightly from the rest. The better answer would have been to make a 4-day block stencil. Much easier to skip a column on one side of the spread to end up with the proper seven days, than to have to fidget with adding a fourth on the other side. It's frustrating.2. Lack of numbered pages. I knew this going in. It didn't stop me ordering. In fact I skipped ordering some other journals because overall this one ticked more of my boxes than the others. But it is a hassle to sit and number every page by hand as I did. (well actually, I just numbered odd numbers/the front of pages because when I do my index/contents section, it's easy enough to know where page 12 is when page 11 and 13 are marked, ya know). Still the lack of numbers does keep it from being a perfect 5 star product.Overall, it's a very nice journal. I love the quality of the paper (it just won't be my portable planner; I'll use it for writing/brainstorming, or as a smashbook or journal of some sort). The design in very pretty. I love the honeycomb pattern on mine; it just *feels* warm. One thing I like about the Ottergamis is that they have a few interesting (non-childish) patterns, beyond just "solid color" (though those are available for those that prefer it) or "solid color but with a graphic on the middle of the front" like so many BuJo options around. If they have a non-dotted/plain option, it would probably make for a nice sketchbook.