I was looking for a Moleskine or a Leuchtturm dot grid notebook for bullet journalling but they were both out of stock; and then I found this one - and I LOVE it! I just bought the three pack for when I fill up this one - and my son wants his own now, too.I wanted a dot grid (not lined or squared) and this book has that. I love the size of the grid. Not too big, not too small. I use a Pilot G-2 0.38 pen and my writing fits perfectly in the grid.I wanted a soft cover because my purse is small and I carry this thing around with me everywhere and didn't want a hardcover taking up precious space or making my purse too bulky/inflexible. The cover is a heavy paper and I thought it would fall apart easily but it has really stood up, especially considering how many times each day I use the book. And it's attached to the pages really well. I am not concerned about the pages detaching from the cover and falling out.I haven't used the Moleskine or Leuchtturm so I can't compare page thickness, all I can say is that I'm completely happy with the quality of the pages in the Northbook. I use Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens for color and have no issues with bleeding through. Sometimes I can see the black pen on the other side but not much.There are no frills, but that's okay because the price is right. No ribbon, but I have a feeling a ribbon would make me nuts. Instead I use little post it book marker stickers that just barely peek out the side (see pic) so I can find my important pages fast and that has been perfect. Better than just one ribbon! It also doesn't have an elastic closure which is a little bit of a bummer (but again, price) but I have found a way around that: I use a binder clip to keep the pages closed which doubles as a pen holder! (see pic) The Leuchtturm is wider, which I thought would be nice, but I haven't found a time when I wish the page was a quarter or half an inch wider, and being a little narrower means it fits in my purse better, so it's fine.My biggest wish, however, is for more pages. It's nice that this book is slim, but I would happily trade some slimness for more pages. Like, double the pages. That's the only thing that has me poking around for other options.