Stories with magical realism tend to take place in the real world with a few life-changing fantastical elements thrown in. Magical realism usually involves intensely personal journeys instead of epic sword-and-sorcery quests. They also tend to be stand-alone books, instead of series (which fantasy readers tend to love). Book series often rely on the protagonists not changing very much from book to book, while in magical realism books, protagonists usually undergo profound transformations.
