I'm CRYING there are literal dancing gingerbread men 😭😭

The writing style is fun and immersive and I really like Mona! Her thoughts are rlly funny lol

I feel like it's definitely going to be like a cozy mystery book? I'm guessing she's going to try to find out who killed the girl in the bakery.

Ben came in a little hot there but it’s easy to understand why. I have a feeling he’s going to be an ally for Sam though, and not an enemy.

Seems like the central mysteries of the book are going to be: 1) who really killed Austin Vandergriff? and 2) is the haunting at Paynes Hollow actually supernatural or just Sam’s relatives trying to scare her so she’ll leave and forfeit the inheritance?

Also, maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I don’t trust any of Sam’s family members, even Gail.

With Christmas not too far off and me putting aside the books I'm planning to take with me when visiting family, I was reminded of last years holidays which were especially fun because one relative went on and on about how fantasy and sci-fi aren't real literature. This started when another relative gifted me some of Sally Rooney's books so I'd have "something real to read for a change" - they meant it jokingly but it nevertheless started a rant that continued over several days (the entire time we shared a house for the holidays).

I mostly ignored the ranting person, we don't really get along anyways, but we will be sharing a house again this year for a couple of days and I can already feel a continuation of the rant coming and I'm wondering if there's some way to convince them that books written by someone other than Kafka or Murakami can be impactful and that just because something is fantasy or sci-fi doesn't mean it's entirely divorced from reality.

Any of you ever deal with similar situations? How did you handle them? Did you ignore them or argue with them? What arguments did you use?

EDIT: Thanks to all you lovely people! All your kind (and petty) words have reminded me that this person just isn't worth my energy. So while I'll probably try to be nice, I'll most likely just go back to ignoring them and, if that doesn't work, I now have some very fun and petty ideas about what to do next 😄

Also thank you for wishing me nice holidays despite having to be around someone like that. Luckily, they will only be there for a few days and I'll have lots of time before and after to enjoy my holidays - with tons of "bad" books, good food and far better company. I hope you all also have lovely holidays 😘