We've grouped these two genres together because, in general, readers either love them or hate them. We get lots of requests for mystery books and those readers often say they don't read anything other than mysteries.
Many other readers say they don't like the mixing of magic and realism in genre-bending magical realism novels. They tend to want one genre or the other.
We encourage you to try one of the books on this list. If you give one of these books a chance, you may find a new genre you never thought you'd like.
MAGICAL REALISM definition: Within a work of magical realism, the world is grounded in the real world, but fantastical elements are considered normal in this world. Magical realism novels and short stories blur the line between fantasy and reality.
MYSTERY definition: The mystery genre is a genre of fiction that follows a crime (like a murder or a disappearance) from the moment it is committed to the moment it is solved. Mystery novels are often called “whodunnits” because they turn the reader into a detective trying to figure out the who, what, when, and how of a particular crime.