YMMV / Johanna Mason: They Will Never See Me Cry

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Lampshaded. After the deaths of 12-year-old Rue and her killer Marvel, Johanna notes that Marvel's mentor Gloss is grieving but she can't tell which death upset him (although it's possible both did).
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • District 3 victor Byte is one of the best-liked characters despite only appearing in about ten chapters due to how he gets a Victory by Endurance without killing anyone and gets some emotional moments with Johanna when he seeks comfort while being out of his depth mentoring.
  • Johanna's Adorably Precocious Child little brother Joey is absent from large parts of the story due to how he stays behind whenever Johanna is in the Capitol or the arena, but he is a fan favorite.
  • Johanna's arena ally Red is very popular for being part of a Badass Family and being a Bruiser with a Soft Center who has some good chemistry with Johanna.
• He's Just Hiding: The sequel story makes no direct mention of the non-Quell tribute victors besides Annie, making it nice to hope that some (especially from Districts 3 and 4) may have gone underground and survived the rebellion.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: District 5 Victor Cassio is the only recent non-Career Victor besides Johanna, Byte, Katniss, Peeta, and possibly Annie (some District 4 tributes aren't Careers) and the Victor of the 72nd Hunger Games. He could have had interesting scenes mentoring alongside Johanna (especially when Foxface/Merade is a contender), but he is only mentioned once or twice in passing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Johanna’s final duel is with her district partner, but their hometown’s reaction to this is rarely, if ever, mentioned.
  • The 72nd Hunger Games, Johanna's first year as a mentor, is passed over in a Time Skip, with it even being unclear which district the Victor came from.