Memoir is one of my favorite genres and this one sounded totally up my alley. I enjoyed Granata's raw, real look into the tragedy that struck in his family when his schizophrenic brother murdered his mother. He did a good job of looking into the effects of mental illness on his brother and his family, while painting a vivid picture of who his brother is and really made us see him as a whole person beyond just his disease. I thought he approached delicate issues very tactfully and appreciated that approach. While I enjoyed the look into some systemic problems surrounding mental health and care for those struggling with mental illness, I did find it got a little slow and clinical in places, and it did end up dragging a bit and took me longer than I expected to get through. I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone interested in memoirs dealing with issues of mental illness and family tragedy, but it wasn't quite a hit for me in the way I expected.

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Vince Granata was four when his parents brought triplets home from the hospital. As the family legend goes, thrilled to have siblings, Vince stuck his head in his father's open car window and declared, "This is the best day of my life." Granata was 27 when he got the call that his brother Tim had killed their mother.

Granata's heartbreaking memoir, Everything Is Fine, recounts the years leading up to Claudia Granata's death at her son's hands and the aftermath that left Vince, his siblings and his father with differing scars from the same horrific wound. It is the story of a warm, loving family, yet also one of American tragedy. Granata demonstrates how woefully inadequate mental health care and historically deadly clashes between law enforcement and the mentally ill left his mother fighting for her son's life, yet afraid to call authorities for help.

Granata deals with his traumas through the memoir, but also uses it to educate readers on a misunderstood disease process. Signs of Tim's schizophrenia began in high school, "on an atomic level, a single cell, something misfiring, an electron hitting the wrong synapse, a chemical imbalance slowly putrefying his brain." The progression to demonic delusions is harrowing in hindsight, but in order to inform readers about the terror of the disease, Granata had to "show... the horror it wrought" and the boy it swallowed. Painful on a multitude of levels, Granata's work is thought-provoking and important. It elegantly humanizes a man who has done the most inhumane thing to those he loves most.

Wow. What a powerful and heart wrenching memoir about untreated severe mental illness spiraling into a family tragedy, and the power of communication, empathy, and family ties. Absolutely beautifully told and also informative about schizophrenia and psychosis.

Right from the start of this book, Vince Granata recounts the day in which he got the tragic phone call - his mother had been murdered, murdered by his younger brother Tim who suffers from schizophrenia.

Looking back, Vince remembers the day his parents brought home these tiny new siblings, a set of triplets - Tim, Elizabeth, and Christopher; announcing that meeting his new siblings was the greatest day of his life.

As his recollections move forward, Vince singles out specific memories of Tim. From childhood, to being the powerhouse on the high school wrestling team, to college – where his schizophrenia started to take hold. How Tim would lift weights to help muffle the voices in his head. The ones that would twist his perception of reality. The ones that would make him believe things that hadn’t happened happen.

His parents sought out help, but the severity of his mental illness needed much stronger and urgent help. Then one horrific day, when Vince's mother was home alone with Tim (she was too afraid to leave him by himself and was never worried that he’d ever hurt her) his voices got too loud for him to control. Who knew that this would be this day Tim would listen to them and kill one of people who loved him most unconditionally?

It would take Tim years to fully remember details of that day.

Vince, Tim, and the remaining family would have to listen to every painstaking detail of the case. Their love for the unwell brother mixed with the murder of their much-loved wife and mother. There are no sides to be taken here, for Vince it is only understanding and forgiveness. But the reality of all of this is, has had a harsh lasting effect on them all.

Everything Is Fine is very well written - a hard read, as I’m sure it was for Vince Granata to write it, and portrays the reality of growing up with a sibling who has a mental illness.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. 4 stars.

It’s heartbreaking, but an important book to read. Starting with a horrific event, the author then takes us back through his childhood, with triplet siblings Christopher, Tim, and Lizzie, providing some important background and perspective. In doing so, you’re able to see the development of a Tim’s mental illness and how it impacted his family over time. In writing about Tim, and his mental illness Granata uses a wide range of source material, including treatment notes, hospital records, etc.
The book graphically illustrates the challenges of obtained sustained and effective treatment for adults with a serious mental illness. I recently read Happy Valley Road by Robert Kolker and Everything is Fine brings the subject of schizophrenia to the present day. The research presented is not as scientifically rigorous as in the Kolker book, but still informative.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster, Book Club Favorites, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Everything is Fine in exchange for an honest review.

This will be the memoir that everyone is talking about in 2021.

Loss and grief are multifaceted things and, in this case, even more so. Vince Granata lost his mother in 2014. She was not the victim of her own disease, but the disease ravishing the mind of one of her children. Vince’s younger brother, suffering from unchecked schizophrenia, murdered their mother in their home one hot July day. In Everything is Fine, Vince shares the shock of this news, his memories of his brother and mother before the murder, and his convoluted path of grief and acceptance.

The details of the Granata family’s pain are difficult to read, but Vince conveys it all poetically. He is transparent in the thoughts he wrestled with throughout and shares a number of pertinent facts about the mental health system, with all of its shortcomings, and the disease that claimed his brother’s mind. It’s worth noting that he makes it clear that schizophrenia and violent crime are not quick to go hand in hand and he advocates for a better understanding of the illness, as a whole.

Knowing that a parent can fight so hard for her child’s mental health only to have it result in her murder is heartbreaking and terrifying. I don’t think there is an easy solution to such things or that anyone necessarily failed anyone else here. It seems everyone did the best they could with the tools at their disposal. That’s what makes it all the more tragic. We are all so limited in what we can give and push for, although the guilt of hindsight often cruelly suggests we could have done more.

Vince Granata’s writing flows beautifully. While tragedy guided him into this cathartic endeavor, it is clear he was born to be a writer. His ability to express himself this way shines through. He broke me several times as he aptly pulled me into the storm of his emotions. He broke me one final time as I read the last few lines of his acknowledgments. His love for his entire family was apparent, but his admiration of his mother and grace toward his struggling brother were, more than anything, the pulse of the narrative.

Although this was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read, I could close it and walk away when it was over. It isn’t my devastating story; the thing I’m forced to breathe in and live with every day. The Granata family will never be able to choose the same. To read a book like this runs the risk of discomfort, but it also promises to nourish compassion and growth.

If my prediction in the beginning of this review is wrong - if this isn’t the memoir of the year - the reading community will be making a terrible mistake. You need to get to know Vince and his family. This is a story of anguish that needed to be told; a story we all need to better comprehend.

I am immensely grateful to Atria Books and NetGalley for my digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Vince Granata is an American author and this is his debut release. The memoir begins with the description of his childhood. When he was four he became the older brother to a set of triplets. Both of his parents are doctors and life is good. His brother Tim, however, begins to exhibit symptoms of mental illness in high school and by college he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. They spend those years worrying that he will kill himself, something he has threatened often. Vince is a thousand miles away, working in the Dominican Republic, when he gets the call he has been dreading...but it is his mother that is dead, Tim has killed her. The book follows Vince's understanding of Tim's struggle with the demons he faced (his view) and the aftermath of the tragedy, including dealing with grief and the justice and mental health systems. This is a good recommendation for fans of memoirs and readers interested in stories about mental illness.

Vince was a thousand miles from home, working in another country, when he received a call from his dad telling him that his schizophrenic brother Tim had killed their mother.

Vince was one of four children, the other three a set of triplets four years younger. With both parents being physicians, there was a wealth of knowledge in the family, but the health care system still failed to treat Tim’s growing mental illness and adequately diagnose and deal with his long term psychosis. It’s not a true crime memoir that dives into the grisly details of murder, but focuses on mental illness and the effects on the individual and the family.

This wasn’t an easy one to read, but I was so touched by the empathy showed towards Tim in this book. I came away from this memoir incredibly sad, but touched by the compassion showed in Vince’s journey through grief and understanding of his brother’s mental illness.

Vince Granata's memoir EVERYTHING IS FINE charts a tragedy in his family that touches on mental illnesses, grief, and resilience. Vince is the oldest child in his family. His mother then gives birth to triplets: Chris, Elizabeth, and Timothy. The triplets are very close, and Vince relishes his older brother role. Very early in the book, Vince describes the act that occurs- Timothy, in the throws of unmedicated psychosis, kills their mother brutally in their home. He then backtracks to chart Tim's journey from childhood to the violent act, and then the aftermath of his trial. We learn about Tim's passion for wrestling and is an excellent student (even approaching Dean's List during the beginnings of his mental decline). While both parents are supportive, he is very close with his mother. The author describes Tim's prodromal phase of illness exceeding well, which is an area that is not often well-studied/described. It is heartbreaking that after his hospitalization, he goes off his medication and quickly decompensates. His family is worried about him, but fear calling the police due to their absolutely justified fear of what they might do to Tim (a sad state of our world). After Tim is taken in by the police and is hospitalized in order to stabilize him to be competent to stand trial, Vince starts visiting him, as he wants to learn more about why he killed their mother, but also knowing that their mother want want him to visit Tim.

This book reminds me a bit of HIDDEN FAMILY ROAD (fantastic book by Robert Kolker) in that it highlights a very personal experience of mental illness (and its effects on both afflicted and non-afflicted family members) as well as informational knowledge about schizophrenia which may provide insight to others. He goes to great lengths to say that individuals with serious mental illness are rarely violent, and if so, it is usually self-directed. He also differentiates violence due to psychosis versus a violent act from someone who may have mental health issues that may be used as an excuse for behavior (e.g., Charleston shooter ultimately just a racist).

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

"To learn I had to look at pieces of my life that seemed impossibly at odds with each other. I had to understand that these pieces could be simultaneously true. I love my brother - and - my brother killed our mother"

In a staggering test of empathy, Vince Granata explores the death of his mother at the hands of his schizophrenic brother. The book begins with Vince finding out that his brother killed his mother, which leads into the details of his brother's psychological breakdown that led to the murder, as well as the mental health services and criminal charges his brother received.

I think the feelings evoked from reading this book will stay with me forever. It is a unique read to me as a lover of both memoirs and also true crime. "Everything is Fine" is so intensely personal while also objective in its exploration of mental illness and it's effects on family and friends. I learned a great deal about schizophrenia and why it is a uniquely difficult mental illness, both for someone to suffer from and also for doctor's to treat.

"One of the greatest tricks Tim's schizophrenia would ever play was convincing Tim that it didn't exist."

"Everything is Fine" is an incredibly emotional read that left me teary eyed on several occasions. While Vince goes into great detail about his personal struggles after the death of his mother, I really appreciated how considerate the author was of all of his siblings. Vince is very careful to not divulge the details of their private suffering and as a result, this book did not feel exploitative or overly personal.

Memoirs can definitely be hit or miss. I've been sucked in by a sensational tagline only to be disappointed by the author's writing more times than I can count. It is clear that Vince Granata is first an incredibly talented writer who happened to have story to share. I gave "Everything is Fine" five stars and highly recommend it to other readers who are interested particularly in mental health, family relationships, and the criminal justice system/ true crime.


**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review**

I tried to get into the book. What attracted me was the cover.... as I started to read it, I kept putting it down. I would pick it back up and put it back down. Maybe because of some of the own personal sadness in my life at this time, I couldn’t finish. It just didn’t hit the right notes.

Everything will not be fine after you read “Everything is Fine.” You will not be okay. You will be filled with grief, frustration, and anger, but also with understanding, empathy, and a deep admiration for this family that went through a level of pain unimaginable to most of us, yet was able to maintain their love for one another.
In this memoir, Granata writes about the impact that the murder of his mother by his brother Tim, who has schizophrenia, has had on his family. Granata tells a story of how a family has to learn to grieve in different ways without tearing each other apart, all while trying to make sense of an awful crime committed by their son and brother. Unlike similar “true crime,” memoirs, this is not a story focused on the grisly details of the crime itself. Instead, it focuses on the failures of American health-care and policing systems that are not set up to deal with serious, long-term cases of psychosis, as well as what it takes for a family to come back together in order to support the person they love the most, regardless of his crime.
Granata draws clear lines between which stories are his to tell, and which are not. He is especially respectful of his brother and sister, Tim’s triplet siblings, who react in different ways to the death of their mother. The level of empathy and love extended towards Tim here is something I’ve rarely seen in a book, even those that cover serious mental illness. You’ll come away from this incredibly sad, but in a way that makes you believe more than ever that familial love really is the most powerful force on earth.

Publication Date: April 27, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Vince Granata for a gifted copy of Everything is Fine, in exchange for an honest review.


Vince Granata was 1000 miles away when he got a call that would alter his entire life. Tim, his schizophrenic brother, had murdered their mother while suffering from psychosis.
Vince takes us inside a story that was so shocking it made the headlines and took us deeper into the effects of severe mental illness.

Vince's story is heart-wrenching, and he told it as it was. He writes about how he struggled through his grief and guilt. He writes of how he came not just to forgive but truly understand his brother while never diminishing who his mother was.

He elegantly tells both of their stories with only compassion.

I found his story did jump around more than I cared for. It also spent a lot of time deep-diving into psychology terms that could've just been touched on. That being said, this was his story, and it was his truth to tell for his healing, and I am thankful he invited us to be a part of his healing journey.

This book absolutely broke me. Vince Granata was so honest which really allowed me to feel what he felt. The story of his mother's tragic death and his brother's mental illness really opened my eyes to a lot of things I thought I knew but I actually did not.

It took me a couple of weeks to read this because of the heavy content. I'm a mental health therapist and this is what drew me to the book. I was pleasantly surprised at the research the author had put in the book. I'm not sure what I expected to feel when I finished this book. I appreciate the support this family has for each other. This book should be read by all mental health professionals for the insight into families of those with mental health diagnoses. Thanks #netgallery.

Everything is Fine tells the true story of the author’s family, his brother’s struggle with mental illness, and the tragic result. Granata is honest about his experience and what he sees as his failures. That honesty adds to the power of this book.

I love the vivid descriptions of the Granata family and their relationships. I love the complexity the author shows—nothing is simple, even in tragedy. He doesn’t try to excuse anyone’s actions or reactions, but seems determined to show the depth and complexity of his family and their story. While this book centers around an extremely violent act, I felt the book the true themes presented are mental illness and relationships.

The book is well written, well researched, emotional, and thought provoking. I highly recommend it.

Outstanding! I highly recommend this book.This book truly defines unconditional love and empathy. It shows the flaws in our country when it comes to mental illness and it’s stigma. My heart goes out to the Author and his family.. I learned a lot from reading this book about schizophrenia. It effects not just the person with the diagnosis, but the family too. I don’t see Tim as a monster. “Everything is fine.”

This book covers an important and often overlooked topic; mental health. It’s difficult to understand unless you’ve been through it yourself or stood by someone close to you in the throes of it. It can be all an consuming, life altering struggle with yourself and those who love you. This is a story of one such family, forever changed by mental illness.

This was a poignant memoir, that told the story of the Granata family. At the center of the story is Tim Granata, who horrifically killed his mother in their childhood home. Tim struggled with mental health issues, which was labeled as many things, ending in a schizophrenia diagnosis. The story is told by his older brother, Vince, who recalls the wonderful and memorable times during his childhood and growing up with his brother and other siblings. He also described some pivotal points where his brother began to shift and change into someone he didn’t know. He began to morph into someone unrecognizable, someone he couldn’t reconcile with the brother he had grown up with. He also shed some light on the ways the system failed his brother, which I think is an important topic.

This story was heartbreaking. I could feel the many emotions portrayed, through the way Vince wove the story together from different time periods and drew the reader in to his world. I wish desperately his mother’s story didn’t have to end that way. So much pain and anguish for the family left behind in the aftermath of such a horrific act. Almost more than you’d think a person could take. But, I think some awareness and good can come from this story being shared. Mental health is often dismissed or overlooked and by the time someone pays attention, it’s too late.

I definitely recommend this book to those who are open and ready to read this kind of content. It’s an important and memorable story. It’s a story of terrible loss, but also forgiveness and redemption in spite of it all. Unconditional love. (Trigger warning for death, murder and mental health struggles.)

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for the ARC.

This story was quite emotional to read. Vince was so brave to share his families story. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about how mental illness affects people and their families.

{Thank you to @atriabooks for my gifted copy}⁣
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Last night I finished Everything Is Fine by Vince Granada and I don't know if I will be able to truly articulate how powerful this book was to me. Written in #memoir format, Granata shares the story of how mental illness changed the path of his family forever.⁣
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Narrated poignantly and with so much compassion, Granata shares the internal struggles he faced when his brother, who was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia, took the life of their beloved mother. ⁣
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Born into a family with means and much medical knowledge (both of his parents were physicians) Granata articulately explained the ways he felt they failed his brother, while also sharing his frustrations at the system which often fails to provide for those who suffer from true psychosis.⁣
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His loyalties were torn between their mother who did absolutely everything she could to support his brother and his bond with his brother - who he knew was experiencing paranoid delusions which ultimately enabled him to make such a horrific decision without truly understanding the dire consequences.⁣
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His writing shares his path through grief and the aftermath of this terrible tragedy while also highlighting how we can better support people experiencing serious mental health issues in the future. ⁣
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I highly recommend adding this one to your nonfiction reading list... publishing April 27th, 2021. ⁣