Jessica Jones is sinking fast. Wallowing in pity and self-doubt, she’s turned from a hero to a drunk who can’t even keep up with basic hygiene. But then she gets a wake-up call and a new case, and that starts to turn her around. A mother of twin teenagers shares a strange story with Jessica. Her kids spent the summer in England with their father and when they came back, something was off. They were, well, perfect. Skin so flawless it looked like plastic, no more nervous tics, grades that went from ho-hum to top of the class. Everyone thinks she’s crazy, but she knows something is wrong. Jessica starts to blow her off, but when she sees the kids, she agrees that something is wrong. So she takes the case, heading off to England and finding a far stranger mystery hiding in a small little village there. One that could destroy the whole world. Only Jessica Jones can stop it, but she can’t do it alone. It’s time for her to learn how to truly be a team if she’s going to save the world. Check out Lisa Jewell’s compelling mystery Breaking the Dark, available in paperback March 25th, 2025.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me for by Hyperion Avenue for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Breaking the Dark contains some spoilers!]
Gritty and dark, just like Jessica Jones is supposed to be
As one of Marvel’s “Street Level” heroes, Jessica Jones has always been a little darker and a little rougher than her planet saving counterparts. While she has occasionally teamed up with her better known “coworkers” Jessica tends to focus on her own little corner of New York City. And that’s just how Breaking the Dark starts out. Jessica is barely holding it together after Kilgrave kidnapped her and used mind control to force her to do terrible things. Her guilt is eating her alive, and she’s burying it in alcohol. Or trying to, anyway. Now she’s so sick that she can’t even eat, everything makes her want to throw up.
Into this mess walks Amber Randall with her odd story. At the beginning of the summer, her twin kids were just two normal, messy teens. Then they went to spend the summer in England with their father and came back different. They look like airbrushed models. They are achieving perfect grades. They never fidget or stare at their phones. And they’re obsessed with the word perfect. When Amber tries to talk to them about the summer or how they’ve changed, they just give her vague reassurances that it was perfect, they’re perfect, everything is perfect.
At first, Jessica is reluctant to take on the case, but then her own fears about what might be happening in her body, coupled with her observing some really odd behavior out of the twins, pushes her to take the case. She heads to England to try and find out what happened over the summer. What she discovers in a plot so perfectly evil that it could destroy the world. Jessica has to stop it, but she needs help. Learning to accept that help will mean the difference between success and failure for Jessica. Perfect.
Jessica Jones needs a village
One of the ironies of New York City is that in one of the most crowded cities in the world, most of its citizens are isolated and lonely. Jessica Jones is one of those lost souls. Surrounded by people, she tries to take care of everything all by herself. But in Breaking the Dark, she begins to realize that doesn’t really work. First, she lets in Malcolm, a teenage boy who worships her and wants to be a detective like her. She realizes that a teenager is uniquely qualified to get close to her targets and find out what’s going on with them, so she reluctantly lets him help.
Then in England, she literally needs the village when she gets in trouble with the bad guys and some of the residents she’s befriended come to her rescue. Surprising herself to no end, she accepts support from Amber Randall, her client and a psychologist. And eventually, she even lets in Luke Cage, fellow superhero and possible life partner that she’s been keeping firmly in the friends with benefits zone due to her fear and insecurity.
And it’s a good thing she reaches out to all these people. Jessica is an amazing superhero on her own. She’s smart and capable, with a heart that wants to help people (even if she hides it sometimes). But some things are just too big for one person. Which is the case this time. Without help, Jessica would never have solved the case. And she definitely wouldn’t have saved the world. Jewell gives us a great reminder that we all need help sometimes. It’s not weakness to seek out support, it takes strength to accept our limitations and ask for help.
Breaking the Dark is a powerful story
Let’s face it, deep down we all want to be perfect. Of course, everyone’s idea of perfect is different. But we all want to reach our own personal vision of perfection. It’s striving to reach this goal that keeps us all going. In Breaking the Dark, Lisa Jewell offers a shortcut to the finish-line, and people are only too happy to take it. But Jessica realizes that it’s wrong. Not only is the price asked for in Breaking the Dark too high, there’s the question of, then what? Polly (the bad guy) envisions a world where as soon as you think of your goal, you achieve it. No work, no sweat, no tears, just wish and it’s yours.
This might sound really good at first, but it has two major flaws. First off, if you always get what you want as soon as you think it, you’re going to get really bored, really quick. Instant gratification gets old fast. Second, there’s no sense of accomplishment. If you never have to work for anything, then it leaves you with no self-esteem. And that leaves you feeling depressed and worthless. We know this is true from psychology. Polly didn’t realize this, she just thought always having what you want makes a perfect world. She also didn’t think about the fact that everyone’s perfect is different, and that could lead to some real problems. Basically, she was a toddler trying to take over the world. Thank God, Jessica and her gang were there to save the day!
If you didn’t get Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell already, get it now
Breaking the Dark was originally released back in July 2024, but only in hardcover. It’s sold so well that Hyperion Avenue is now releasing it in paperback in March. Jewell has written a great mystery with a good moral that doesn’t come across preachy. Jessica Jones is deeply flawed, but that’s what makes her so relatable. And deep down she does care, she’s just afraid of getting hurt.
My rating: 9/10
Check out Breaking the Dark by Lisa Jewell (a Jessica Jones crime novel) soon!
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