Breaking the dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel follows the story of Jessica jones who is a PI in New York. She is down on her luck after some trauma in the past and newly pregnant. She is called upon by a woman named amber who is looking into why her children came back different from a UK trip to their fathers.

The books tumbles and turns through Jessica’s investigation, she takes on a teenager as an assistant who has more character than she does.

The book is super slow at first and then kind of picks up. I’m still not so sure of how or why she is an avenger because there isn’t a whole lot of back story.

I did end up pushing through and it was an okay book.

Lisa Jewell is no stranger to crafting twisted, unforgettable thrillers—and Breaking the Dark is no exception. But this time, she adds a new twist to her mastery of suspense: a gritty, supernatural noir vibe pulled straight from the Marvel Universe. This first installment in the new Marvel Crime series gives us a closer, rawer look at the iconic Jessica Jones, and Jewell nails the voice and tone that make Jessica such a compelling anti-hero.

If you’re not already familiar with Jessica Jones, here’s the rundown: she’s a retired superhero-turned-private investigator. She’s tough, damaged, snarky, and brilliantly observant.

A frantic mother, Amber Randall, bursts into Jessica’s office with a wild-sounding claim: her teenage twins have changed—completely—after visiting their estranged father in a remote British village. They’re eerily perfect now, missing their once-familiar quirks and even speaking differently. Amber is convinced her children have been replaced.

Jessica’s curiosity and intuition won’t let her ignore the case, so she follows the trail to Barton Wallop almost otherworldly village in the UK.

What follows is a twisty, psychological thriller with eerie sci-fi vibes, cultish secrecy, and a deeply personal undercurrent as Jessica is forced to confront the darkest parts of her past while battling the shadows creeping into the present.

Breaking the Dark is an atmospheric, fast-paced, emotionally gripping mystery that blends the Marvel Universe with the addictive twists Lisa Jewell is known for.

But what really impressed me was how seamlessly Jewell made the Marvel world accessible.

You don’t need to be a comic book buff to get lost in this story—Jessica Jones is a protagonist who commands your attention from page one, and the central mystery is gripping enough to stand entirely on its own.
Whether you're a longtime fan of Jessica or new to the character, this is a must-read!

Take a shot every time you said ‘Perfect, Perfect, Perfect’

One of my favourite all time authors Lisa Jewell, has taken a turn with her books and has entered the Marvel Multiverse with her new release.

In Breaking the Dark, we are following Jessica Jones who is a retired superhero now Private Investigator. One morning she gets a knock on her door from distraught mother Amber who is concerned about her twin teenage kids who came back home from the summer at their fathers in the UK and are now acting very weird. She doesn’t think its normal teenage behaviour and believes something sinister has happened to them. She begs for Jessica to investigate and get to the bottom of the mystery.

JESSICA JONES TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I am not really a Marvel fan to be honest, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this story. But Lisa reminded me why I am such a massive fan of her work because her writing is captivating. Lisa knows how to write characters and most importantly writes them so well that you genuinely care about what they are doing and stay rooting for them. Her characters are not perfect, they all have their flaws, strengths and weaknesses and its easy to relate to them.

Lisa created great intrigue and suspense with this book, and I was eager to go along the ride with Jessica to find out what was happening with the kids. It didn’t feel gimmicky and comical (ironic I know) and it was so easy to picture the scenes and atmosphere in my head.

This was more than a book of superheroes flying around everywhere and trying to catch the big bad villain. I read about loneliness, insecurities, greed and people striving for ‘perfection’.


⋆｡°✩WHAT I LIKED⋆｡°✩
➽ Good pacing
➽ Short chapters
➽ Interesting characters
➽ Dual time frame

⋆｡°✩WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE⋆｡°✩
➽ No real twists
➽ Read more like a YA novel
➽ Not enough backstory about Jessica Jones
➽ Ending was mediocre

The pacing was good and kept my attention. There was some parts that kind of lost me and went over my head. The ending wasn’t anything spectacular or mind-blowing and was somewhat predicted from myself, but I wasn’t mad it. Overall, I really enjoyed it and wouldn’t be opposed to watching the tv adaptation.

Don’t be perfect… Be REAL
Perfection isn’t a goal, it’s a scam


3.5 ⭐

Lisa Jewell novels are always my favorite! Her writing has a way of pulling you in and not letting go which I love! I will admit I was hesitant about this novel because it is a marvel book so I was not sure if it would have the same style as her other books. I was not expecting it to pull me in like it did. I have limited marvel knowledge, I had actually never heard of Jessica Jones, but I was still able to full enjoy the storyline. I encourage non marvel fans that are Lisa Jewell fans to read this new thriller. It has all the elements of twisty suspense and intrigue that I enjoy.

Review of Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell

Was this a classic Lisa Jewell? No. Did I still enjoy it? To an extent…

Lisa Jewell is one of my go-to authors for twisty, character-driven thrillers, so I was curious to see how she’d handle a Marvel tie-in. While I do enjoy Marvel, I don’t have much familiarity with Jessica Jones, which made it harder to connect with the characters and the world. That’s more of a me problem than a fault of the book itself, but it did impact my overall engagement.

The writing was solid, and the story kept me semi-intrigued, but I never felt fully invested. It had its moments, but I’m not sure it hooked me enough to continue with the series. If you’re a Jessica Jones fan, this might hit differently, but for me, it was just okay.

Starting out unfamiliar with Jessica Jones, and lightly knowledgeable about the Marvel universe I was immediately drawn to Jessica’s story and listened fascinated as the stories unfolded. Dual times were important and worth rewinding the audio to reorient as I listened. Compelling and intriguing, I look forward to the next two in this series.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

I sort of don't know how to rate this book. I think I might have liked it more if it hadn't had the "Jessica Jones" label on it - as a supernatural mystery story, it was great. It did what it said on the tin. As a Marvel/Superhero story? It kind of felt flat. I couldn't see past the Lisa Jewell of it all to hear Jessica's voice. She was too posh, too quiet, too British for me to believe that this was a bred and born, hard-ass PI from New York (a lot of this (imo) was due to the use of British expressions by Jessica on occasion). Her rough edges seemed softened. And, while this book does cover a lot of growth in Jessica's life, I wish she had started the story as more of a rough and tumble mess, so that we could see her growth happening on page.

The mystery itself was slow-going for the first bit, but once it started picking up steam I could not put it down! It was eerie and weird, and exactly like a plotline I could imagine from the Jessica Jones TV show. Around the last 40 to 30% of the story in particular was when things started getting really really tense and the spiral to the reveal began (Lisa Jewell is so skilled at writing these tense revelations and slow unravelling of mysteries). The two plotlines (past and present) didn't feel as impactful until here at the end, when the plotline (and timeline) started speeding up.

All in all, this was an interesting concept - to take an established mystery writer and give her a fully fleshed out character to play with. I think it worked well, but sadly it didn't blow me away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion for giving me an eARC of this book for review! All opinions are my own.

I want to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley, Hyperion Avenue and Lisa Jewell for the E-ARC of ‘Breaking the Dark’.

The novel started off slow, but finished strong! I felt that the characters were distant and felt little to no connection. On the other hand the writing (as always) by Lisa Jewell was great! I felt the author could have added more mysterious components to it to amp the story up.

Maybe I was missing something, but I like superhero’s but I had no clue who Jessica Jones’ was or how she tied into the Marvel universe. I was too scared to do any research prior to picking this up because I didn’t want anything to be spoiled.

The book was interesting and kept be interested enough to finish. I would say this falls into a Contemporary Fiction genre with slow burning mystery content. The dual timelines were confusing at first and does take time to get used to. I’d say overall the novel was formulaic and had diverse characters as well.

My favorite part was how the author explores the dangers of social media and exposing ourselves to being perfect vs being the best versions of ourselves in the most healthiest way possible.

I will be continuing the series as each book will be written by another author. And I am into superhero movies too!

#BreakingtheDarkAJessicaJonesMarvelCrimeNovel #NetGalley

3.5 stars rounded up

After finishing this book I had to sit with it for awhile to figure out if I liked it. I'm still undecided. I do enjoy some of the marvel movies. I haven't read any of the comics. I grabbed this book because Lisa Jewell. I do know that I won't grab the next in the series because ehh. The book was entertaining and kept me guessing of what the heck is going on but nothing to write home to mom about.

I went into this book completely blind and was instantly hooked! From the start, it kept me entertained and eager to uncover the truth alongside Jessica. I really admired her determination and drive, which made her a strong and compelling character.

While I was able to predict parts of the twist, the story still held my interest, and I wanted to keep reading to see how everything unfolded. Overall, it was an engaging and entertaining read!

I picked up this book because of the author, not because I'm a Marvel fan. I found it really challenging to get into and I'm not sure if it's because I didn't have the character background or because the writing style is different than what I'd expect from Lisa Jewell. I would only recommend if you're a Marvel fan.

So let me say that I have never seen the Jessica Jones show or really know anything about the character, I have however read Lisa Jewell books before and enjoy them a lot. I probably would've gotten more out of the book and understood more if I had prior knowledge of Jessica Jones, but the book was fun none the less. I thought the plot was interesting and it was as good as any other crime novel. I recommend it, but maybe even more so if you're familiar with Jessica Jones

I like Lisa Jewell and I like Marvel. Decent read. The story line did get a little slow and confusing at times, but overall I enjoyed the story. Reading about what lengths people are willing to go to to be “perfect” was insane.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel by Lisa Jewel.

Jessica Jones is a former super hero turned private investigator. Because of the trauma she experienced using her super powers, she now avoids other people and relationships other than her work - which makes for a lonely existence and leads to some very debilitating habits.

When Amber Randall arrives at her office, Jessica is struggling with a hangover and a lot of regret from last night’s bad decisions. However, there is something compelling about Amber’s story about her teenage twins returning totally changed from a summer stay at their father’s house in England. The twins no longer seem themselves, and almost appear trance-like. Their skin has a perfect glow and they have forsaken many of their old friends and habits. They seem obsessed with looking at the sky and constantly talk about a friend they made in the UK named Belle. Amber tells Jessica that they are abnormally “perfect.”

This case will take Jessica across the pond to a small village and deep into the “perfect” world of Belle, the twins’ new friend. As she begins to explore the town of Barton Wallop, Jessica senses that something is not quite normal in this perfect place which is suddenly casting a dark shadow far and wide. How far will people go to be “perfect,” and at what price?

I love Marvel movies, but I don’t typically choose action as one of my reading genres. Having said, I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with Jessica Jones!! This book combines all of the greatness of a Lisa Jewel book with a side of the Avengers. I highly recommend this if you love thrillers, but are looking for a little bit more of twist from the usual formula.

Although I’m a big fan of Lisa Jewell, I can’t say I’m a big fan of Marvel but thought I might enjoy this one.

Overall, I did find this story interesting and I was curious where it was going. But I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew anything about Jessica Jones and her backstory. I found the writing pretty choppy for Lisa Jewell. Some of the dialogue came across as cheesy and stilted to me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but don’t think I need to continue this series. I think marvel fans will really enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this but it exceeded all of my expectations! I am not familiar with Jessica Jones but this book made me want even more from her character. I also loved the SiFi elements here. It made me think of The Xfiles and I couldn’t get enough! The beginning is a little slow but once I got to the meat of the story I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC!

Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel
by Lisa Jewell
Pub Date: Mar 25 2025

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe. Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.”

I absolutely loved this book! It was fast paced with a unique story line. Jessica Jones and all the characters in this story were very well developed. I am absolutely hooked and can't wait for the rest of the Marvel Crime Series!

Many, many thanks to #BreakingtheDarkAJessicaJonesMarvelCrimeNovel #NetGalley and #HyperionAvenue for providing me with an E-ARC of this fantastic new Marvel Crime Series!

I really enjoyed this book. I watched the Jessica Jones series a long time ago and this is such a different type of novel for Lisa Jewell. I’m a huge fan of Lisa’s writing and it’s so nice to have a little something different.

I loved Jessica Jones on Netflix. Lived her Marvel story, but I mainly got this book because hello Lisa Jewell. But this was very far from a classic Lisa Jewell book, and I just didn't vibe with it. These types of books are definitely for people more familiar with marvel side characters.

It’s been a minute since I got lost in the Marvel World and I wouldn’t say I’m a superhero fanatic at all. I just like good storylines. So if you’re not a Marvel/Jessica Jones fan, don’t let that deter you from picking up this Lisa Jewel novel.

I watched the Jessica Jones series when it came out and it’s been a fear years. I did have to ask my spouse what super powers she possessed again (super strength). But overall, she a private investigator that barely has her life together. Usually drinking, unshowered, and her apartment/office is always crumbling or looks like it’s been ransacked. But with very little cash to her name, she takes on a bizarre request from a mother (Amber) of teenage twins. The mom believes her kids went to Europe during their annual stay with their dad and returned “not themselves.” She believes something happened to them and she’s hired Jessica to find out what. And Jessica’s young teenage assistant, Malcom, is used to get closer to the twins.

There’s also a storyline that occurs 38 years earlier….John, a bartender (36), obsessed with a 20 year old, Ophelia. Or is it’s Ophelia obsessed and seeking him?

One other story line just 12 years prior about Polly, who is curious about Ophelia and John. So she befriends their son, Arthur, to secretly investigate the family.

And a mysterious little girl that keeps showing up near Jessica and disappears every time she looks away. This part is spooky.

As Jessica scours the England town, she finds that the house the twin’s father owns has some history itself. And the town doesn’t seem fond of its new inhabitants. Things get even weirder from there when Jessica finds Belle (a rumored girlfriend to a twin).

Overall it has a message about perfection or our quest for perfection. It was a fun story slim the Marvel Universe. And if you’re a Jessica Jones and Luke Cage fan, you’ll enjoy this novel.

Thanks @NetGalley and @DisneyPublishing for the digital copy.