This book was a 5 star idea and a 3 star execution. Set in a future/alternate history US which split up into sections after the Vietnam war, this takes place in a city where monsters are real and created by the sins of humans. But Schwab focused too much on the main characters (one a monster wanting to be human and one a semi-monstrous human) and the world-building was lacking. I wanted to know more about the monsters and the government and I thought August and Kate's parents were way more interesting than anything else that was going on.