
Certain main characters have their wills, souls, and consciences broken by sadistic military men in intense scenes. People die in a whole variety of ways, primarily by gunshot, but also by impalement, suicide (by hanging, overdose, and gunshot), being burned alive, electrocution, etc.

Characters are shot at and stalked they witness the violent deaths of loved ones and the protagonists shoot and beat up their enemies to achieve their goals. In the Others' systematic waves, 7 billion humans die, many killed by a gruesome plague with nauseating symptoms. if the Nazis had killed 1200 times as many people. There are similarities between the Others' genocide and the Holocaust. Its violence, vulgarities, and sensual moments are in no way overblown in other reviews. This novel is in absolutely no way for the faint of heart. Author Yancey's plotting and perspective shifts absolutely take the cake in his "gripping epic of catastrophic loss, unthinkable odds, and unflinching courage" there are so many twists, turns, loops, double-crosses, triple-crosses, and cliffhangers that you barely know which way is up by the time you're fully invested in the story, feverishly flipping the pages to get to the next chapter.

The 5th Wave is a brilliantly constructed, utterly addictive, and extremely grim apocalyptic YA novel.
