A 500 Page Monster by Odyssey Notebooks

Odyssey Notebooks was founded in Maryland in the early 2020s by Rainbow. Since its inception, the company has produced a number of interesting notebooks featuring astrological and mythological themes. Said notebooks also regularly feature 68 GSM Tomoe River paper, a favorite among fountain pen and stationery lovers. That’s not all that makes this notebook special, however. It’s defining feature is its size: 500 pages (!) of Tomoe River goodness. Does the notebook justify its $42 price tag, however? Read on to find out.

What worked for me:

As far as I am aware, this is the only 500-page Tomoe River notebook that’s readily available on the market. Most other sellers tend to top out around 400 pages.
The notebook comes in 5 different colors: black, brown, red, blue, and purple.
There are several ruling options: blank, lined (7mm), and dot grid. I would love to see a grid option as well, but there’s still plenty of choice on offer.
The notebook has a few “features” that help set it apart from the pack, such as page numbers with an “orbiting planet” them and an embossed (and quite tasteful) inclusion of the brand name on the back cover. The notebook also includes its stats (eg number of pages, paper type, etc) on its paste-down, which is a blessing as an owner of myriad notebooks.
There is a discount for buying in bulk; notebooks are $42 if purchased individually, but $39 when purchased in a pack of 5. It’s not a huge discount, but it’s still nice that Odyssey offers a discount at all.
My order included a free pack-in notebook. It may have been small (48 pages), but I certainly can’t complain about a freebie.
Despite the mammoth number of pages, the notebook had no trouble laying flat. Perhaps this is due to the notebook’s 30+ signatures?

What didn’t:

The first and last 100 pages were hard to use because of the spine’s size. This wasn’t a manufacturing issue, but a reality of having so many pages. My only reasonable work-around for this was to use a second, thinner notebook under Odyssey.

Some of the signatures separated from the binding during my time with the notebook. Granted, the notebook held together for my entire time with it (approximately 7 months), but the separation raised concerns for long-term use and storage (or for a more demanding use-case).

I missed having a ribbon to mark my page (even if I rarely struggled to find my place in the notebook)
The cover was serviceable, but it got dirty over time. Also, it felt a bit flimsy (even for a “soft cover”). This issue was compounded by the fact that none of my notebook covers would fit on the Odyssey due to its size / page count.

Conclusion:

The Odyssey Notebook offers good value per page and 68 GSM Tomoe River is still a favorite of mine. With that being said, the book is just too thick for its own good. My guess is that 400 pages is the upper limit for notebook size when using all of the notebook unimpeded is a priority. Happily, Odyssey also sells notebooks with fewer pages; I’ll likely try their 400 page hard cover notebooks with galaxy themes next.

Check it out here.