Amor ou Algo Assim is a 2021 Queer Romance novella by Mariana Chazanas.
The story follows Raffa, an once bullied teenager from a small vineyard town, now a national sweetheart and TV soap opera star. He is made to come back to his hatred hometown by his sister's wedding, where he meets his childhood bully and the reason why he hates his town so much, Caê, once the heir to one of the town's richest families, now penniless and struggling to pay the bills, and Raffa sees the perfect opportunity to take some sort of revenge on his old enemy as strange feelings bubble to the surface of their complicated relationship.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Raffa's father was physically abusive to him, no doubt a contributor to his issues.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Caê and Raffa's childhood relationship was defined by a mutual hatred and unspoken attraction to each other. When they meet again, this all comes back, especially the attraction part.
- Future Loser: Caê's family used to be the one of the town's richest families and ruled the school in his youth, but in the time that Raffa was away, their vineyard went under due to poor management, leaving Caê unable to even pay his electricity bills and desperate for work as a waiter.
- Happy Ending: Raffa and Caê finish the novel in good terms, possibly in a relationship. Raffa convinces his sister's husband to renegotiate the terms of the agreement with Caê so he can have some more money and asks him to move to the city with him.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Sex between Caê and Raffa end up being as much about power as it is about the sex itself. At one point, the narration even indicates that Raffa wants too fuck Caê in an intentionally painful manner and hit him during sex. He himself gets freaked out about it since he is never like this with his partners.
- Motif: The entire city has a wine/vineyard motif, due to being the main reason why tourists even visit the town.
- Plagued by Nightmares: Over Raffa's whole life, he's had nightmares about the night that he and Caê fought and that ultimately led to him being shunned by the city.
- Queer Romance: The focus of the story is the complicated relationship between the two male leads.
- Self-Harm: Caê has a lot of self-inflicted cuts on his arm and even a burn from a lighter, which is why he keeps wearing long sleeved shirts.
