Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell
Jessica Jones, a retired superhero turned private investigator, prefers to keep her distance from the world of capes and crime-fighting. When a distressed mother, Amber Randall, seeks her help, Jessica is drawn into a chilling case. Amber believes her teenage twins have been replaced by something inhuman after visiting their father in the UK. The once-imperfect kids now appear flawless and obsessed with a mysterious girl named Belle.
I wanted to get into this book because the description and the cover drew me in, but I just could not do it. I feel like the writing was a little choppy (and I love Lisa Jewell books) and the story was not written well. I DNF'd it at about 30%. This may be some one else's cup of tea, but it was not mine.

As a Marvel fan AND a Lisa Jewell fan this one seemed like a no-brainer for me. It's definitely a bit different from Jewell's normal writing style but she mingles hard-boiled crime style with thriller very nicely.

I loved the Nextflix Jessica Jones series and jumped at the chance to read more of her adventures. This one takes her quite literally out of Jessica's comfort zone, the un-aptly named Hell's Kitchen, New York and sends her like a fish out of water into the upper crust of English affluence.

I thought the premise was really good, I was interested right off the bat in this mystery that Jessica has to unravel., and I hope that Jewel will revisit our reluctant superhero again.

I was able to read Breaking the Dark as an ARC thanks to Netgally. Honestly, I did not pay attention to the fact that this was a Marvel backstory ahead of time, which had me confused for the first portion of this book. Before reading this book, I had never read any or watched any of the Jessica Jones tv series. I cannot attest to the true history of the details added into this book, so I wish she could have elaborated more into the powers. This book was interesting, but felt like it took quite long to get to the ending.

I've watched most of the Marvel Movies, and a good handful of the series, but one of them I never watched was Jessica Jones. To be completely honest, I really only picked this one up because it was written by Lisa Jewell, and I always love her books. I'm not sure if I cared too much about it being a Jessica Jones novel, but thought I'd give it a shot.

And boy am I glad I did. Though the beginning felt a bit slow and sluggish taken over with a weird "am I pregnant, am I not pregnant" story line, it picked up with the case she was working on and from then on I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed Jewell's take on a Marvel character, and can't wait to see what she's got up her sleeve next!

**Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

I enjoyed this! So full of twists and turns! Not my favourite LJ book but I was entertained the entire time!!

If you love the Jessica Jones and Luke Cage series on Netflix, you need to read this book. Lisa Jewell does the characters justice in this first book in the Marvel Crime Novel series. Jessica still doesn't have her life together, but she is trying. She is seeing Luke casually, and still working as a private investigator. She takes a case involving twins who return from their summer vacation seeming a little too "perfect". With supernatural aspects, Jessica must uncover a centuries-old mystery and how it connects to real life beauty filters. I gave this book 4.25 stars and hope to continue the series.

I’m very confused by this piece of work. The advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley has a publication year of 2025, and yet the publication year on Goodreads is 2024. Written by Lisa Jewell (I love her other novels), is based on a Marvel comic book hero who first appeared in 1980. There is also a Jessica Jones tv series 2015-2019. I find it difficult to determine the purpose of this book. It mentions a lot of scenes that happened before the start of this book’s plot. The writing is incredibly juvenile and reads like a debt novel. There are too many themes: a private derisive mystery, magic, the supernatural, standards of beauty, super heroes. I wish it was just a detective novel or that I hadn’t even read it.

I DNF'd this one. I tried 3-4 times to sit down and read, and I really wanted to get invested in this as Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors, but I just couldn't get into it. Not my style unfortunately.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

i really was not a fan of this book, or at least not as much as i wanted to be. i've loved lisa jewell's other books, this one just fell flat for me. i had high hopes for this book bc i love marvel & mystery so i was hopeful that this would be an amazing book, but i just really didn't enjoy it much.

I was a big fan of Jessica Jones and I’m a really big fan of Lisa Jewell so this book was made for me. I loved this version of Jessica’s life story. I always loved her character and wanted this story for her. Lisa Jewell finally gave Jessica both a moral victory and a happy ending in life. Well written!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this story! I love Lisa Jewell and when I saw the synopsis I knew I wanted to pick it up.

I’ve been over the big superheroes of late so to focus on one who’s more of a more gritty and somewhat normal personal investigator I found compelling.

The mash up of Lisa Jewell with Jessica Jones was *chef’s kiss* such a good match. I felt drawn to Jessica’s story because of the build up Lisa Jewell provided. I even started a few episodes of the Jessica Jones TV show just so I had more context for the story.

The mystery aspect of the story was dark and woven well where I didn’t feel in a terrible hurry for the answers because I was enjoying Jessica’s story. (Once again, props to Lisa Jewell for that.)

I’d recommend this story to any Lisa Jewell fans, any gritty detective readers, and or Marvel gurus.

Jessica Jones’ messed up corner of the Marvel universe happens to be one of my favorites (ahem, Daredevil fan here) and I’m glad for an excuse to get back into it.

This was a fun book to read. I love Marvel and enjoyed this book. Good storyline as well. Looking forward to another book.

This wasn’t exactly my favourite read, but it wasn’t bad by any means! I think the subject matter didn’t hit me the way I had hoped it would, but I am more of a vibes reader so take that with a grain of salt! As always, I will try the book again at a later date I’m sure!

I’ve always been a huge Lisa Jewell fan, so I was a little worried to see her dip into the superhero genre. The biggest saving grace for me was that I was already a fan of Jessica Jones!

Honestly I think this one is worth the read if you already enjoy superheroes! If you are reallllly not into them I think I’d stick with Lisa’s other books, which are all amazing!

I’m not a Marvel fan but generally enjoy Lisa Jewell books. Jessica Jones is a retired superhero turned private investigator who takes a case leading her to England investigating two teens who returned home from a recent trip with “perfect” complexions and personalities. She soon finds herself in the middle of a missing persons investigation involving 3 other missing teenagers. The first part of the book was really slow, but it did pick up. Even as someone who isn’t into Marvel or any superheroes, I did enjoy the book.

Thanks to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel" by Lisa Jewell presented a bit of a challenge for me, which is a shame, given my dual love for Lisa Jewell's thrilling narratives and the gritty world of Marvel's Jessica Jones. I was genuinely excited to see these two worlds collide, but unfortunately, the initial spark didn't quite ignite for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC for a honest review.

2.5 stars

Bleh. Did not enjoy this at all unfortunately. The writing just didn't hook me in at all. It definitely had some moments though which made me finish the book but it was LONG. It felt at times like it would never end and that's just not a great reading experience. I think I went into this expecting a typical Lisa Jewell thriller and this isn't that. Don't think I'll continue with this series.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review

Jewell takes a step into the Marvel universe with Breaking the Dark, the first book in Marvel’s Crime series, featuring Jessica Jones—a tough-as-nails private investigator and retired superhero. You can tell that the book captures Jessica’s sharp wit and hardened persona, immersing readers in the dark and gritty streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Her signature character-driven storytelling is evident, but this novel leans heavily into supernatural elements that may not appeal to all fans.

As a Marvel fan, I found the premise intriguing, and the crime and investigative aspects were engaging. However, the supernatural themes felt more prominent than expected, which could be a hit or miss depending on personal preference—for me, it was a miss.

Overall, Breaking the Dark is an interesting experiment that blends crime fiction with Marvel’s superhero lore, but it may not fully satisfy longtime Jewell fans or those unfamiliar with Jessica Jones. It’s a solid read for Marvel enthusiasts and those open to a different side of Jewell’s writing, but it doesn’t quite deliver the gripping, twisty experience her readers have come to expect.

I’ve only read one other book by Lisa Jewell, and it was not one that I particularly enjoyed. I was hoping that this book would be a different style and therefore a different outcome for me but it still fell short. Considering this is a series, it will be interesting to see future books under the Marvel Crime series. I’ll try another book by Lisa but so far, it’s not something I would seek out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC

As someone who is newly in the Marvel universe with my kids, I loved this book. I was not super familiar was Jessica Jones yet before reading it, but I really enjoyed it! I was instantly intrigued with how the twins had this perfect skin and were acting different. I immediately wanted to know why and how and was sucked in.

I came to this novel as just a Lisa Jewell fan and am walking away an even bigger Jewell fan and also a Jessica Jones fan!