For starters, this thing looks absolutely nothing like the picture they use. It's indistinguishable from regular leather under all but the closest of examination and lacks the distinctive bumps typical of ostrich leather. The leather on the inside is of far worse quality than that on the outside, it practically feels like cardboard. It's also simply a lousy checkbook cover. With a regular checkbook inside, maybe half an inch in thickness, it simply doesn't close unless you squeeze it together, typically hanging open at a 45 angle. It's as if it wasn't designed to ever actually have a checkbook inside of it, which is baffling. And you can forget about keeping a check register in the upper portion. In general, leather goods look and feel great, but unfortunately, the cheap plastic checkbook cover you get from your bank is functionally superior to this one.