Her sister-in-law demanded a Kindle back 12 years after rejecting it — then lost it over the surprise it came with
We often think family gifts come with an unspoken understanding that once they are given away, they belong to the recipient. But every now and then, an old decision resurfaces years later and suddenly becomes the source of an unexpected dispute. That is exactly what happened to a Reddit user who shared her story under the username u/SeepyWeepy on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. What began as a conversation about books at a family barbecue soon took an unexpected turn when her sister-in-law suddenly asked for a Kindle that had been out of her life for more than a decade. But the woman had one last trick up her sleeve.
The dispute began when the sister-in-law suddenly asked for the old Kindle back after learning that it contained hundreds of books collected over the years, including the full collection of "The Witcher," which her husband wanted to read. According to the post, the father-in-law had originally offered the device to his daughter after winning it at work in 2012, but she declined it, prompting him to give it to the daughter-in-law instead. More than a decade later, however, she argued that the Kindle had always been hers and asked for it to be returned. The daughter-in-law eventually agreed, but only after restoring the device to its factory settings and wiping the entire digital library that had been built over the years.
Before making any decision, she even called her father-in-law to make sure she was not overreacting. He reportedly confirmed that the Kindle belonged to the daughter-in-law because his daughter had turned it down years earlier. In fact, it was initially his suggestion that if the Kindle was going to be returned, the user could be a little petty about it because no conditions were attached to the gift. Unfortunately, after finding no books, the sister-in-law threw away the perfectly preserved first-generation Kindle. This also led many readers to wonder whether she had wanted the device itself or simply the years of effort that had transformed it into a carefully curated digital library.
Even today, conflicts involving in-laws remain a part of many women's lives, and disagreements that seem small on the surface can carry years of family history and unresolved feelings. In this case, a decade-old gift became the center of an unexpected dispute between a woman and her sister-in-law, showing how old family decisions can resurface long after everyone assumes they have been settled. Research suggests these tensions are far from unusual. A 2021 study published in the journal Research in Human Development found that disagreements involving in-laws can increase marital strain, especially when spouses have different views of their relationships with family members.
Fellow Reddit users were more upset about the device than either party. u/iwillsure said, "There were no winners in this sad tale. I feel bad for the Kindle," while u/mother-of-dragons13 commented, "This hurts my book-loving heart to hear the fate of that poor Kindle." u/Bucky_Gatsby wrote, "I don't feel like the petty revenge is on her. You petty revenged yourself." Old objects gain value from the experiences we attach to them rather than the price we pay for them. Therefore, when those experiences cannot be transferred, even the most desired possessions can suddenly lose their appeal.
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