YMMV / The Just Series

• Designated Villain: The Careers. Most of the other tributes hate them, but deep down most of them have a conscience and families that genuinely love them.
• Fridge Brilliance: Throughout the beginning parts of Fear is Just a Word, it’s made a point that Emily wants revenge because her brother got killed. In a rather twisted way, she got her revenge, because in the previous games, the District 2 girl killed Emily’s brother, and in the next year Emily herself was the District 2 girl, and she killed herself.
  • Especially brilliant when you consider that she didn’t even make him promise that he wouldn’t volunteer, her “She would make him proud or die trying. At this point, it didn’t really matter” POV line, and she didn’t even try to fight back when Jewel attacked her. She wanted to die. In essence, she blamed herself for his death, and she wanted to put an end to that once and for all. You can also chalk that up to why she got in so many arguments with Trax and the other Careers- she was secretly hoping for one of them to put her out of her never-ending misery. Especially since she looked like her brother- basically,she was confronted by her horrible guilt every time she looked in the mirror. And it drove her ultimately to assisted suicide.
    • Also, the Delaney/Tilly switch makes so much sense if you go back and re-read Fear after The Reveal. There’s tons of subtle foreshadowing. For example:
  • When she was taken by the Peacekeepers? Probably orchestrated by rebels to make the switch.
  • Ryan’s thoughts about Colten.
  • Tessy mentioning that Delaney looked somehow different, subdued, and nervous.
  • Delaney’s thoughts during the countdown.
  • Delaney’s OOC behavior in the arena.
  • Similarly, Tilly’s OOC behavior.
  • Tilly reacting to the spiders-Delaney’s fear- and Delaney not reacting.
  • Tilly suddenly wanting to join Colt and Rose’s hug makes sense too.
  • Tilly’s thoughts during chapter 32.
  • The Colt/Tilly dialogue during the scenes in the D6 mentor box.
    • Also, on the surface Jewel’s murder of Emily may not be that significant. But if you recall that she didn’t really want to kill (until Tod died) then her sudden change will make sense. She was so motivated by her lust for revenge that she became her worst nightmare- a torturer, exactly like the Careers, and especially Emily, who she targeted instead of Louka, so she could throw karma right back in her face. In essence, she became her target.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In chapter 9 of Freedom, Diana stated, “I’ll never be like Emily.” Later in the story, she is actually a lot like Emily, taking Emily’s role of The Dragon and also arguing a lot with her district partner. And she dies in chapter 33, which is the same chapter Emily died in during her Games.
  • Also, Jael says that she wants to be the first person ever to win the Games twice. This becomes funnier if you consider the events of Catching Fire.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: Jangelo, which is Janie/Angelo.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Janie/Jace vs. Janie/Angelo. In-universe as well as out.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: The Careers. Some of them you just can’t help but be sorry for. Also, Aria and Amira.