Thank you, Netgalley, for the chance to review this book. All opinions are my own. I admit that I am not a big Marvel fan. I enjoyed the movies but never read any of the books. My family is a big Marvel family. So, I was curious about who Jessica Jones was. This was a perfect book that easily played out as a movie in my head chapter by chapter. It will be an ideal weekend read over spring break. Or add it if you’re looking for a different beach read. I was left longing for what happened to Jessica and her child. Thank you for taking the opportunity for this project, Lisa.

Caveat: I requested an Advance copy (ARC) because I’d enjoyed previous books by this author. I hadn’t noticed the subtitle and didn’t realize it was a Marvel universe novel! I know nothing about superheroes and their universes, so I went into this book lacking what might have been important backstory and context. Even so, I did enjoy it.

The premise and the plot both interested me. I always love a capable woman main character, even one who, like Jessica, has emotionally wounds. Generally I prefer deeper character development than this story provided—that seemed to take a backseat to plot in Breaking the Dark, such that I ended the story without feeling like I knew Jessica much better than I did at the outset—but the book still held my attention.
The story is pretty dark. I was glad that Jewell mostly hints at most of the violence and disturbing aspects, rather than describing them on-page. I also appreciated the nods to the related problems of beauty culture and social media obsession.
My rating: 3.9 stars, rounded to 4.

You might like this book if you:
• Are a fan of the Marvel universe and/or women superheroes in general
• Like mysteries that are dark but not too gory
• Like an intergenerational cast
• Like to see a character take their job seriously and try to do what’s right, even if it’s not easy
• Like to see a main character wrestling with her demons and making progress against them

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book. All opinions here are my own.

I am not into Marvel crime, but I love Lisa Jewell. I enjoyed the story though. A definite recommend.

thanks publisher and netgalley. all thoughts and opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion for this E-ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

So, Breaking the Dark has me feeling a bit mixed. There were definitely parts I enjoyed, but there were also moments where I felt completely lost—and a few where I was just confused.

I’ll be honest, fantasy isn’t usually my go-to genre, so that might explain some of my struggle here. The plot had so many twists that it got hard to keep track of what was happening. Scene changes were abrupt, and I often found myself wondering who or what I was supposed to be focusing on.

The book starts with Jessica Jones, a woman carrying the weight of her past as a superhero. She’s in a bit of a slump, relying on partying and drinking to cope. But when Amber Randall comes to her with a bizarre story about her twins, who’ve come back from a trip to England acting strangely, Jessica can’t help but get involved. She heads to England to figure out what’s going on.

Once she arrives in the small, mysterious town of Barton Wallop, the atmosphere is seriously unsettling. Jessica meets the twins' stepfather and a woman named Belle, who seems to be hiding something. Belle’s answers are vague and guarded, which just adds to the tension.

Something sinister is definitely at play—there are missing girls, the twins are acting even weirder than before, and there’s a strange perfection about them. The book has a really dark, atmospheric vibe, but the pacing and constant shifts in plot made it a bit tricky to follow at times. It kept me intrigued, but also left me with a lot of questions.
So if you are a fan of the Marvel Universe, I'm sure you will enjoy this book.
3.5 Stars!
#NetGalley, #Hyperion, #BreakingtheDark, #LisaJewell

I started reading it knowing it had the Jessica Jones twist, but even with the Lisa Jewell magic it wasn’t one that kept attention. I found myself continuing to ask myself if I should put it down rather than picking it up at all times of the day.

Jessica Jones has given up her life as a superhero. After unspeakable trauma, she's living in Hell's Kitchen, drinking too much and trying to make her living as a private investigator. She's also worried that she might be pregnant.

When a distraught mother comes to hire her to find out why the teenage twins she sent away to visit their father in England have come back changed. Now they are like zombies who have become perfect.

Jessica takes the job and finds herself in a small English village that was once the site of a horrible tragedy. The twins' father is renovating a house built on the site of the tragedy. He has a mysterious new girlfriend. When Jessica tracks down the young girl who became the twins' friend while they were in England, she finds herself swept up into a situation where someone is trying to make her perfect goo.

Interspersed with this main story are flashbacks to an immortal woman who falls in love with a serial killer obsessed with blood and a young woman who wants to gain fame and make her fortune by making an app that makes the user's all perfect too.

I came into this story knowing nothing about the Marvel Universe and nothing about Jessica Jones or her backstory. I had questions after I began this one and consulted wikipedia for some answers. Anyone who already knows about the Universe will find that this story fits right into the canon and adds depth to Jessica's story.

I really enjoyed the book both for the science fictional aspects and the underlying question of what it means to be a mother and what being a mother can cost.

Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Crime Novel by Lisa Jewell
Publication Date: March 25, 2025 or July 2024?
Three Stars- ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Hyperion Avenue, and Lisa Jewell for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a boy mom who's well-versed in the Marvel Universe, I was excited to discover a Lisa Jewell-Marvel crossover. However, while I'm familiar with the Marvel world, I wasn’t too familiar with Jessica Jones or her love interest, Luke Cage. Since I haven’t watched the Daredevil series, I went into the book without much prior knowledge of the characters or their backgrounds. Based on the author and the book’s description, I was expecting to enjoy it more, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I think I'll stick to Lisa Jewell's traditional thrillers in the future, as this one just didn’t resonate with me the way I’d hoped.

3.25/5

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!

It was an interesting concept and I really like how Jewell writes, but the plot didn’t hold me much and the ending felt a bit lackluster. Jessica is a character I like but didn’t really feel invested in - maybe if I liked her more I would have been more into this, maybe?

3.5 stars!!

thank you to netgalley for this arc, i love jessica jones so this was really exciting to get my hands on! it did take me about ~20% to really get into the plot, but once i did i couldn’t put it down. i read a majority of it in one day (about 65% of it). jessica is a badass woman and we love to see it. even if you aren’t a marvel fan, i think any reader would genuinely enjoy this is a crime/thriller book. a lot happens in this book and it was maybe a little hard to fully keep up with everything, but once all the dots connected it’s an insane story.

I am not the biggest Marvel fan, but I was truly intrigued by the story's title... then gripped by the plot. Readers follow the former superheroine, Jessica Jones, who is now a private investigator. When she was approached by a mother with concerns about her twins, Jessica found herself digging for the truth and dealing with a few of her own. While I do not believe this book was for me, I still enjoyed it. I highly recommend this read for Marvel fans and fans of Lisa Jewell's writing.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up. This book is not what I was expecting but I’m very glad for that. When requesting this book I didn’t realize it was marvel or that Jessica Jones is a marvel character as I’m not into superhero’s . I went into this book blind,but it was great. It did have some aspects of super hero’s but not overpowering it. It was fast paced and I enjoyed the characters. I may be interested in the rest of the series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

I am not into Marvel crime, but I love Lisa Jewell. It was a good read, I recommend if you enjoy Marvel and/or Lisa Jewell writing.

3⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Lisa Jewell and her publisher Hyperion Avenue. I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love Marvel and I usually enjoy Lisa Jewell books but I’m thinking maybe you have to be an uber Marvel fan to really enjoy this book. This also isn’t the authors typical writing style. I’m not sure what I was expecting but basically this is YA mystery/super hero/detective/crime solver. Liked it. Didn’t love it. Just a so/so middle of the road detective read. I think if you’re a diehard Marvel fan, you’ll enjoy this more.

"Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel" by Lisa Jewell is a thrilling installment in the Marvel universe, featuring the iconic private investigator Jessica Jones. This gripping tale blends crime, mystery, and the complexities of human nature as Jessica navigates a dark case that challenges her both personally and professionally.

Jewell captures Jessica's tough demeanor and vulnerability, making her a relatable and compelling protagonist. The plot is fast-paced, filled with twists and turns that keep readers engaged. Themes of justice, morality, and the impact of trauma are intricately woven throughout the narrative, adding depth to the action.

Overall, "Breaking the Dark" is an exciting and well-crafted novel that showcases Lisa Jewell's ability to blend crime fiction with the rich lore of the Marvel universe. It's a must-read for fans of Jessica Jones and those who enjoy thrilling crime stories.

Breaking the Dark follows Jessica Jones post-Daredevil. She's isolated and working as a PI, still traumatized by what happened to her.

A client comes to her and begs for help figuring out what happened to her twin children, who have been "acting weird" ever since they came back from visiting their father in England. Their skin is perfect, they don't carry their phones around, and parts of their personalities seem to have been smoothed over. Jessica must travel to the English countryside to try and find the elusive "Belle" the twins keep talking about, all without getting into the same sort of trouble herself.

There's an interesting thread weaving through the story that jumps us back in time but slowly works its way forward to meet up with the present day. That kept things moving along and held my attention.

I don't want to spoil anything, but the subplot that Jessica is dealing with wasn't my cup of tea. Overall, I enjoyed Lisa Jewell's writing and had a good time with this one!

I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to receive this as an ARC, however this was not for me. I love Lisa Jewell but I am not into comic book characters or type stories. I actually suggested this book to my son though, I think if this is your jam, it seems very well written. She is a talent writer, this just wasn't my type of book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I normally love Lisa Jewell, but this was not my favorite. Jessica Jones is a retired, washed up super hero turned private investigator living in NYC. She is thrown back into the frying pan when a mother, Amber, insists that something has happened to her teenage twins. It is clear after some investigation into Amber's small town in the UK (a setting when Lisa Jewell shines) that something supernatural and possibly sinister is at play. Can Jessica solve the mystery?

My tastes are more geared towards Jewell's typical thrillers and I think I'm just not the right audience for a Marvel adaptation novel. However, even despite my lukewarm interest I was compelled to keep reading because I love Jewell's writing. It's fast paced, descriptive, and creepy. I also like how Jewell wrote Jessica, even though I had very little background knowledge on this character. Jessica is a very flawed and vulnerable main character but I still managed to root for for her. There are only so many female superheros!

Overall, this was enough to hold my interest, but I don't think I will continue on to the next book. I do think Jewell's typical audience will be pretty split over this one. In my opinion this series is more suited for comic book lovers or people with background knowledge of Jessica Jones and the Marvel world. I do applaud Jewell for trying something different and eagerly await her next classic thriller release.

Not my normal genre that I gravitate towards, but I still enjoyed the storyline here. Really enjoy Lisa Jewell’s writing style. Overall, I’d rate it a 3.5 stars. Thank you for the ARC!

⭐3.75. I vaguely remember seeing a few episodes of Jessica Jones on Netflix a while back. And here I am, reading a full length novel about her Marvel character, written by an author I really like.

When I began this book though, I noticed the writing didn't seem familiar. It is written very well, but felt different... the dialogue for me was a bit simple, unlike I'm used to with Lisa Jewell's novels. It wasn't until I was almost finished with the book that it dawned on me (duh!!), she wrote the story in character, sticking to the existing Jessica Jones; it wasn't a character Lisa created herself. That kinda changed things for me. Although, maybe everyone clued in much sooner 🤷🏼‍♀️ haha

I felt like there was a bunch of background info I was missing, but I'm used to that with the Marvel universe. Eventually things click into place, or I just need to read or watch something else and I'll get it. It wasn't too distracting.

I really enjoyed this PI investigation story. "Perfect" twins (creepy!!), a trip to the UK, a psychopath, a genius, an immortal witch, and Luke Cage! (😍)

Within this story, it touches on what the meaning of happiness is to people, and unattainable beauty standards set in society, and the drastic measures people (especially youth) are willing to take to attempt to achieve "perfection"—spoilers, it doesn't exist!!

"Perfect is what you are when you are listening only to the beat of your own heart, the sound of your own feet on the road ahead of you, the one pure voice that exists inside you telling you that you are fine, just the way you are."

A quote from the immortal woman in the story: "This world was designed for a good time, not a long time. Its pleasures fade after a while, and they are meant to. We are meant to leave this world." 🩷 Beautiful, and sad, and true

✨"Break through the dark. Find the light."✨

I gave this book a 3.75 stars! As someone not familiar with Marvel storylines/characters, it took me a bit to get into the book. Once I was in, though, I was excited to keep picking it back up. I thought the main character was dynamic and interesting and I felt connected to her journey throughout. I enjoyed the issue the "bad guys" were trying to fix and how it really could easily become a nightmare. I was also appreciative that the super hero aspect didn't take over the rest of the narrative and it was more of a fun add than something necessary to the storyline.

The ending was tied up in a bow but it wasn't in an overly expected way or something I was rolling my eyes about. I genuinely wanted to know that things were going to be good. The ending of the story of the "bad guys" felt slightly abrupt and I didn't fully understand why the "father" of the family was killed like that. That part wasn't clear to me.

Overall a fun read and I always appreciate Lisa Jewell's writing and framing of stories. I thought it was fun to embark on new subject matter and bring us something a little different!