Breaking the Dark offers a fresh take on Jessica Jones, diving deep into her post-hero life as a private investigator. As a fan of the Jessica Jones Netflix show, I was excited to see more of this complex character in a new light. The book captures Jessica’s gritty, no-nonsense attitude while exploring her emotional scars from her superhero past. The case she takes on—helping a mother whose twins have changed mysteriously after a visit to the UK—keeps you hooked, as Jessica navigates dark secrets and strange happenings in a small English village.

The plot is intriguing, and the pacing is steady. Jessica’s tough, yet vulnerable character makes her an engaging lead. The mystery surrounding the twins, their new personalities, and the eerie village adds a supernatural twist to the gritty crime drama. I also appreciated the book’s atmosphere—Hell’s Kitchen and the rural English setting both felt well realized, creating a great contrast. Lisa Jewell does a solid job building suspense and layering the story with tension.

However, there were a few moments where the pacing slowed a bit, especially during some of the more introspective scenes with Jessica. I also wished there was more exploration of the secondary characters, especially Amber, the mother—she felt a bit underdeveloped. Overall, though, this was an exciting read, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series featuring Daredevil. For any Jessica Jones fans, this is a must-read. I would rate it four out of five stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC copy of the book.

Breaking the Dark - Book one in the Marvel Crime series.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
3 stars

I enjoy novels by Lisa Jewell and when I saw that she was writing outside of her typical genre, I thought I’d give it a go. This isn’t up there in my favorites but I didn’t come into this novel with unrealistic expectations either.

This story follows retired Marvel superhero, Jessica Jones. She’s trying her hand at a normal civilian life and is working as a private investigator. She picks up an intriguing case that has her testing her investigative skills, testing her resolve and determination, employing a teenaged boy as an assistant and traveling to the UK where she accidentally inserts herself in a missing persons case.

I felt like the pacing started off pretty slow and the stage setting for the plot was confusing. Honestly the plot was kind of all over the place, more like snippets of several plots that tried to converge. The characters don’t really have a lot of depth and the synopsis of this book states that you don’t need in-depth familiarity with the Marvel world but I tend to think you do. Maybe then Jessica Jones would make more sense. I would have never known why she was a retired superhero if it weren’t for a nugget of information that I found at the end of the book. There were some good ideas in this book but they never quite came together. This did superbly acknowledge the fact that our society is superficial and detached from interacting with each other. The ending was anticlimactic and I could have done without the self reflecting soap box speech at the end.

So, this wasn’t a terrible book. The other books in this series are being written by different authors, one being S.A. Cosby (whom I LOVE,) and I am definitely interested in reading the rest of the series.

Breaking the Dark was initially published in 2024. This arc was provided in anticipation of the release of the paperback in March 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for sharing this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this story, as I really enjoyed None of This is True by this author, but this one fell a bit flat for me. The pacing was a bit slow for the first three quarters of the book, and while the overall story was enjoyable enough, the character relationships felt flat and the scientific explanations felt a bit ridiculous. If you’re a fan of Marvel, this is probably worth a read, but it’s probably one you can skip otherwise.

My experience with Lisa Jewell's new mystery was a bit frustrating. It’s always a bit of a gamble when diving into a book without knowing much about it, especially if you're used to a certain style of storytelling.
I read that Jewell wasn’t familiar with the Marvel universe and time travel stories, and maybe that influenced the tone and structure of the novel, making it feel a bit disjointed or confusing (to me). I am typically a fan of her work, but felt lost with the characters and the idea of this book. I was hoping for more of the emotional depth and relatable characters that she's known for. This book seemed to take a different direction from the style that I usually enjoy.

I am not a Lisa Jewell fan. I just never seem to connect to her writing. Unfortunately this book didn't sell me on the author - or the concept of Marvel spin-off books - at all.

I'm not a hard huge Marvel Universe person, but did really enjoy the Jessica Jones series and was really looking forward to revisiting the character. From what I remember of the show, she was dark and snarky and fairly unflappable. In the opening pages of this book she screams three or four times and gets flustered over the neighbor's cat - none of which felt like behavior I would associate with the character I remembered at all.

Everything about this one felt forced and I could not get into it. This one definitely was not for me...

Lisa Jewell is an incredible author! I have not read a book of hers that I have not liked. I read this as a standalone such a great book!

𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸: 𝘼 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝗯𝘆: 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 ⠀
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I loved the Marvel series Jessica Jones. when I saw Lisa Jewell, an auto read author for me wrote a crime novel about her, I got super excited. Lisa did Jessica proud! I loved being back in Jessica's world. ⠀
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Jessica Jones, misfit super hero, private investigator with an edge, attitude, and an a lot of history. Jessica takes on a client who children return from a trip to England a little bit too "PERFECT." Jessica finds herself a little off her game while investigating the children. She also finds herself in a personal situation she never thought she would be in. I loved the story and ending. This was a perfect way to revisit Jessica's world. ⠀
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I can't wait to read the other two novels in the Marvel series: Luke Cage and Daredevil. ⠀
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Thank you NetGalley, Lisa Jewell, and Hyperion Avenue Books for the gifted ARC. ⠀
⠀𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼𝘄. ⠀
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I really liked it! For me, as a standalone book and not knowing any of the backstory of Jessica Jones, it was a little difficult to follow along. But, I will say that Lisa Jewell tied everything together so great. I would definitely recommend this book.

Great book. I like the story line although a bit far fetched at times but it’s a superhero story so I’m down for it.
I’m glad I got a chance to read it and it and would recommend

Read this as a Lisa Jewell fan, not a Marvel fan, and it did not disappoint! Breaking The Dark was a good crime thriller with supernatural and Black Mirror-esque elements, not too much superhero stuff. I went in knowing nothing about Jessica Jones, but now I want to know what happens to her next! Such a fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC!

As someone who knows nothing about the Marvel empire, I did go into this one fairly blind. Deciding to check it out out of love for the author, I discovered that, for the most part, I did not need much background information about Jessica Jones or any other Marvel characters she may have crossed paths with. While still not quite my cup of tea, I did enjoy the storyline more than I thought I might.
Thank you NetGalley for the copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high expectations for this book and Lisa Jewell absolutely exceeded them. Jewell went all in on this and did a great job bringing Jessica Jones to life. Personally I feel that Marvel books sometimes fall short, but that can’t be said for this book.

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First of all, thank you to NetGalley for a free digital copy. I really enjoyed the first book in the Marvel Crime series. I watched Jessica Jones on Netflix, so I knew the characteristics of her. I loved how Lisa Jewell actually took her time to research the character for the book. The book was about two kids who come back from a vacation in Europe, and they are not acting normally as they were before. Their mom hires Jessica to find out what happen during their trip that changed them. The story flips between two timelines. It all comes together in the end. It was a great mystery. I like how some other famous Marvel characters were included too. Recommend this read if you like the Netflix series.

This may be my new favorite Lisa Jewell book. This was such a fun change from what she normally writes and although I’m not a Marvel fanatic, I was so into this book! I loved Jessica Jones’s character (her determination and struggles), the dual timelines and the building suspense throughout. The crime part of the book was very Lisa Jewell to me and I thought she was able to integrate the super power aspect of the Marvel characters without making the story too far out there. I appreciate the message of the book and the glimpse into how toxic our obsession with perfection can become. I felt satisfied by the end but would still be excited to read another Jessica Jones book..

4.5/5 stars

Not my typical read. But it kept me entertained. While it wasn't a "page turner" for me, it seemed to go by quickly and I enjoyed the storyline.

Ok I really wanted to like this. I'm not a big Marvel person and maybe that didn't help..I do however enjoy Lisa jewell. But this was not what I expected so that probably didn't help.
Putting that aside, I found the writing so disjointed, abrupt, and basic. I could have put aside expectations if the writing was up to par, but I just couldn't enjoy it.
That said, maybe I'm missing something because I don't know the Marvel universe.
I'm sure some will enjoy this if it's their thing!

I requested this ARC because it was written by Lisa Jewell and I love her books. I didn’t realize it was a Marvel Crime novel and I probably wouldn’t have requested it if I had known. But I’m glad I did. It was a great book and kept me interested and guessing until the very end.

Jessica Jones, superhero-turned-private investigator, has been commissioned to investigate some strange goings-on for twins, Fox and Lark. Ever since they returned from a summer with their father, their mother has noticed that they feel artificial and perfect.. too perfect. Jessica, with the help of her teenaged neighbor-turned-apprentice, must travel to the English countryside to learn more about what might have happened last summer in the small town of Barton Wallop. There, she will decipher a centuries-old mystery, and learn what it takes to become truly perfect.

I had previously read, and mostly enjoyed, Then She Was Gone--although quite dark and violent, it was an entertaining book club choice and left me feeling hopeful for this book. Further, as a Marvel fan (albeit having never seen the Jessica Jones series), I was immediately intrigued by the introduction of a mystery anthology series based on familiar characters. Unfortunately, this book fell pretty flat for me right away, and never quite regained my attention. The book immediately began with disjointed writing that sounded unnatural and disjointed--it was hard to shake that this book might have been written with AI-assistance. This is not the author's fault, but I also have a hard time getting invested in stories about apps, filters, AI, or similar technology that Gen Xers think are the only things that young people care about. I also got a little lost with Jones, herself--her powers were never truly explained in the book, rather just alluded to, so as someone who was unfamiliar with the character to begin with, I felt myself left behind or Wikipedia-ing character lore. On a positive, I do feel like the big reveal did not come too quickly, but rather enjoyed being able to pick up clues in each chapter and flashback.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for this book, I am not completely turned off by this series, and am looking forward to giving the next installations another chance. I do plan on recommending this series to serious Marvel fans, with caveat.

This book was obviously different than other Lisa Jewell books I have read. While the superhero aspect was not something I necessarily was super interested in beforehand it definitely was an interesting read! The mystery aspects were great and the characters were easy to follow despite not having super in depth Marvel knowledge! Excited to see where this series continues and certainly enjoy Lisa Jewell’s writing style!

Thanks to netgalley, Lisa Jewell and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book. I absolutely love all this marvel. I fell in love with the premise and the twins. I didn’t want this book to end and I loved how it went from past to present