Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
Hey, it's more monster manual than 90% of non-D&D systems offer.
Sure, but OP is coming from 5e D&D, which has a significantly different (and better) meaning for monster manual.

If we tell him that DFRPG has a good monster manual, then it would be reasonable for him to expect something like a D&D monster manual, rather than page after page of character bios. He would be set up for disappointment.

Personally I enjoy the 2nd book ("Our World"), and I would recommend it, but if you can only buy one book then buy the first book ("Your Story"). It's enough to play the game without the 2nd book, and the first book has some absurdly good meta-game advice and mechanics -- e.g. their procedure for session zero / city creation is something I carry into other game systems. The first book forever changed how I game (for the better); the second book was a fun read.