BURN THE WATER, by Billy Ray, Scholastic Press, March 6, 2026, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult)
Two young people from warring Houses fall in love in Burn the Water, a dystopian take on Romeo and Juliet by Billy Rae.
The year is 2425 and London is underwater.
Three hundred years ago, rising oceans drowned a vast majority of the English Isle. London is now a jungle of dead skyscrapers and submerged streets.
Fighting over the scraps of a world none can remember, two Houses — the Crowns and the Rogues — have been at war for three centuries.
Rafe is the Rogue army’s fiercest captain. Jule is the Crown army’s deadliest soldier. They are vicious and merciless, courageous and beloved by their Houses. They are sworn enemies.
And then they fall in love.
It’s a death sentence. But their love is all-consuming. As Rafe and Jule try to keep each other alive in their war-torn world, they are forced to confront new, horrifying threats to their loved ones while the hatred between their Houses only grows.
When mysterious foreigners appear on their shores, the warring factions may destroy each other, unless their two most ruthless soldiers can become beacons of peace and possibility, showing their people a different way, and save them all. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
Author Billy Ray is no stranger to the dystopian genre. After all, he is the screenwriter behind The Hunger Games. So, it should come as no surprise that Ray’s writing is cinematic. The world he creates is easy to imagine, and its scope is impressive. The setting is grand, but Ray still manages to craft intimate scenes.
And if that was all I was judging Burn the Water on, it would easily earn five stars. But the book isn’t complete without the characters and pacing.
Rafe and Jule follow the enemies-to-lovers trope in a world that is harsh. At least initially, they both come across as hard and one-note. This changes further into the book, but it does make it difficult to care enough about them to keep reading past the first few chapters.
Rafe and Jule live in a world where violence is normal. Marriages are made to best create future soldiers. Joy is a foreign concept that is so rare, when it is found, it practically leaps off the page. Ray’s ability to create contrast here, is commendable.
Burn the Water is a unique look at where our Earth could be headed. It’s thought-provoking and filled with strong emotion. It’s not necessarily a book I’d pick up twice, but it’s a strong read for those drawn to dystopian romance.
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