Probably closer to a 4.5 star read, some parts of this book could be edited/cut to make it more succinct and a bit more surprising. A twistish section was a bit too foreshadowed but was mostly well done. Got the ick and literally gagged at at least one point which is VERY hard to get me to do. The main character was very well done and quite and empathetic but realistic lead. Background character felt a little bit like they were there, but everything felt very in the moment and distracted from that. One chapter in particular could be cut fully near the end - did not be needed to be elaborated in that POV the explanation in a sentence worked fine.

an easy to read pulpy horror story about a freaky religious cult and their dabblings in demon sealing rituals and cleansing the bodies of 'sinners'.

i enjoyed this one! the back cover says its perfect for fans of chuck tingle's camp damascus and grady hendrix's horrorstor, and that's Exactly on the money, they have the same vibe for sure. having read both of those books, I've found that this book suffers in the same way i found horrorstor did... the characters end up almost on this yo-yo of being saved and being dragged back into danger on such a quick paced scale that it's almost annoying. i also found that ruth kind of ran out of things to say other than the fact she was in pain, her blood sugar was low, and she wanted to be back with her girlfriend. understandable desires, but they got a bit repetitive about half way through, unfortunately. other than that, though, a very solid read and i'm glad to have read it!

Solid horror read. I liked the action and the plot. Cults are absolutely one of my favorite horror tropes and I will be purchasing this on release day. Looking forward to recommending this title.

3.5 stars

Fun and original. However the pacing and repetitive parts kind of took me out of the story occasionally. It felt more like filler at times. But for the most part this was a great read!

As someone who spent their childhood and young adult life in an environment heavily steeped in evangelical Christianity, this book hits differently from someone who doesn't have those same experiences... I can vividly picture that megachurch, fill in exactly what every detail looks like (hell, even smells like) with minimal prompting.

I loved this book. I found the main character to feel real, flawed but doing her best, insecure in her relationship in an understandable way, and the extra details with her diabetes and managing her blood sugar added an extra depth to her that further help lift her off the page.

There was one small instance of things maybe clicking into place a little too easily at the end, I won't go into details (spoilers) but if you know you know. Despite that however, this was a very enjoyable read for me.

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer is a tense, original survival horror novel that turns a cozy craft store into a brutal battleground. With sharp commentary on religious control and identity, it’s both darkly clever and genuinely horrifying. Gritty, fast-paced, and satisfyingly unhinged.

This book does for the humble craft store what Final Destination movies have done for tanning beds, elevators, and logging trucks. It will be a good long while before I can look at a tube of super glue the way I used to. The violence delivered via the medium of craft supplies is by far the biggest strength of this book. It's fun, yet brutal; inventive and visceral.

The book's biggest weakness is pacing. In between the action scenes were sections that felt more dragged out than they needed to be, and kind of repetitive to boot. The biggest sin commited in this regard were these extensive scenes of the main character overhearing various cultists explaining their evil schemes to each other in awkward "as you know" type dialogue. That sort of thing doesn't make for great reading to begin with, let alone when the same information is relayed in multiple different conversations.

Overall, I loved the concept, loved the vibe, and had a lot of fun, but felt low-key frustrated pretty much the entire time by the feeling that this could have been so much better if the presentation was just a bit tighter.

4 stars!

Hell yeah (pun intended), I love queer horror. Where else are you going to get a book about a woman trapped in a craft store by a cannibalistic cult?

As alluded to, this book follows Ruth, a bisexual living in a small town who has to keep her relationship with her girlfriend a secret because of the prevalence of a deeply homophobic religious sect in the area. When members of the cult trap her in a craft store with clear intentions of using her for nefarious purposes, she must fight her way out with a variety of improvised craft weaponry. It's always weird to me to call a horror book a fun time, but man this book is a fun time. I find that a lot of books with a kind of silly premise like this will skimp on the actual plot and characters and rely on the novelty of the premise to be compelling, but I actually thought the characters and story in this were great. Ruth's attachment to the town feels very real–I'm sure there are a lot of queer people in dangerous situations because they're used to it or have other sentimental value. The action was fun and also surprisingly suspenseful, and the little sections in between chapters with the podcast transcripts and news articles and stuff were all really cool and helped fleshed out the kind of mystery side-plot.

If you're looking for something a little relaxed and out of the box, this is totally worth your time and I enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you to Jenny Kiefer and Quirk Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

This book was entertaining, but I feel as though parts dragged on and information was repeated. However, I do love unpacking religious trauma and cults, so I enjoyed the ending a lot. Plus the cover looked AMAZING.

Thank you Jenny Kiefer, Quirk Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I’m really into this newer wave of horror that unpacks religious trauma—especially the way it intersects with queer identity. This story leans into that hard, and it doesn’t hold back. The craft store setting? Total parallel to Hobby Lobby, including the shady artifact plotline, which added a chilling realism.

One of the standout elements for me was the use of mixed media—podcast transcripts, news snippets, and more. These little inserts gave the story a sense of momentum and made the world feel layered and real.

That said, the plot itself leaned a bit too much into the predictable at times. The resolution with Abigail felt rushed, like the story suddenly hit fast-forward. I kept wishing we’d gotten inside her head earlier; her POV could’ve added more depth and emotional weight to the climax.

Still, the themes were powerful, the commentary sharp, and it left a lasting impression. I’d gladly revisit this one—and I’ll definitely be recommending it to others

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am obsessed with this book. I was telling people about it while I was reading it because I enjoyed it so much. A queer woman is lured into a craft store, where she is then trapped inside the store and hunted by religious cultists. This book takes us through her fight to survive while also battling against her own diabetic body to stay coherent. This book didn't have a lot of surprise twists and was fairly predictable, but the writing was compelling, and I truly cared for our main character. I also like that the main character's narrative was interspersed with newspaper articles and podcast transcripts that gave the reader clues as to who was who and what backgrounds other characters might have in the book that we could not get from our main character's narration. It only happened a handful of times, so it wasn't a huge interruption from the action of the main storyline. I will be re-reading this again. Maybe for Halloween. I would recommend this for fans of slashers and evil religious cult stories.

This one was a lot of fun!

Ruth is a very real and crafty (pun intended) protagonist that fits this narrative well. I enjoyed her resourcefulness as well and the tendency to choose fight over flight with the variety of materials at her disposal.

The themes are well executed and timely. Hitting stores like Hobby Lobby and their bigoted counterparts where it matters most.

I also noted and appreciated the critique of larger mega churches and their tendency to curate and control communities.

The only things are the podcast excerpt segments and other breakaway moments feel a little interruptive of the narrative and give away far too many pieces of the larger mystery at play. I also found the wording around the New Creations church a tad too intentional, a detail oriented reader will quickly notice the omission of a word from the bulk of the text which might give away or hint at the surprises in this text so soon.

I am beyond excited to pass this one along to my branch's horror inclined patrons and my coworkers alike!

The craft store slasher cult story I didn't know I needed! As someone who grew up in fundamentalist Christianity I enjoyed this campy caricature of what a mega church could be. Also loved the nod to *actual* wrongdoings of a certain craft store aka stealing artifacts. I read this in just a day! Definitely will be recommending this to my horror book club.

A enjoyed this more than I did the first book by this author. This feels like they’ve really found their groove. It’s funny and silly and scary, I love lighthearted horror.

For anyone who has always suspected in their hearts that a certain conservative crafting store is inherently evil, this is a fun and gory thrill ride.

An entertaining novel in the vein of Rachel Harrison and Chuck Tingle. While I loved the story and the queer representation, at times the writing style felt more adjacent to a YA voice. There were a lot of descriptions of Ruth about to scream and holding it back that became a bit redundant, and some plot points could use some polishing, but that’s just me being nit picky. I loved all of the mixed media bits, reminded me a bit of Penance by Eliza Clark in those moments, which is one of my favorite books. The horrific moments were really effective- I’ve never been someone who has been afraid of rats, but that scene really messed with me. Overall, a solid story that could use a little bit of tweaking before pub day.

shout out to the cover designer (lace in the moon, a philly yarn artist!) for posting about this and allowing me to discover the insanity that is Crafting for Sinners. this book is fast paced and action packed—i read this nearly in one sitting, biting my nails the whole time. the gore at times felt a little gratuitous, almost as a substitute for a meatier plot, but ultimately i still enjoyed reading this.

I love this newer division of horror, where it explores religious (predominantly Christian) animosity towards LGBTQ+ individuals. I could see the parallels between the craft store and Hobby Lobby, right down to the whole artifact scandal. I enjoyed the epistolary additions of the podcasts, news articles, I think they fill in the gaps and continue the story. I thought that overall, it was more so on the predictable side, and I thought that the ending with Abigail was a bit too quick, it felt like it was running towards the end. I think having more of her perspective would have been interesting and would have enhanced the story, had it been added sooner. I would definitely read it again, and would absolutely recommend the book for purchase.

It took me a little while to get properly into this one, but once I was in, I really enjoyed it. It was gorier than I was expecting so I couldn't read it on my lunch breaks (ew eye violence!) but all of that stuff was visceral and horrifying in a good way. I did really enjoy the craft store as a horror setting.

Quite unsettling to read and not as fun as I'd hoped given the title and description, with what I agree is a lot of clunky dialogue. But fine as a debut book! Thanks for the arc.