House of Earth and Blood

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas | 803 pages | 2020

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

It's my second time reading this one, and I still feel like it's 4 stars. She built a really cool world, and I think the balance between urban and fantasy works very well. Basically a whole star gets taken for the terrible supervillain info dump that happens at the climax, which is so clumsy and lengthy that it slows down the momentum.