I feel the same about romance.

Not all people will appreciate all works or styles of art. Art is fundamentally subjective, and there is nothing wrong with not relating to a certain genre.

Life is far too short to waste time and energy trying to force yourself to engage with unappealing books. I would recommend moving on and spending your time with book styles that you like, or trying out genres with which you're not yet familiar.

Sounds like it's not for you.

Give Mistborn a try.

I mean magical realism is sort of inherently absurd, that's the point of it. You can't really play straight with a grounded, realistic world while simultaneously introducing some fantastical, mythical, or otherwise supernatural elements.

It sounds like you just don't care for magical realism as a whole which is fine, but I don't think there's too much more to it than you simply don't like what the genre entails. Master and the Margarita is one of my favorite books, a prime example of magical realism.... And also is theatrically absurd because again that's the main crux of the genre aside from a plethora of social/cultural/political critiques. The magical aspect is purposely absurd to contrast against the realism.

You don't like it. You gave it a go and turns out it doesn't appeal to you. It's fine!

I love magical realism, but you have to be willing to let go of a lot of....expectations? Previously ingrained beliefs on how books are supposed to work? I dunno.

But not every genre works for everyone.

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Have you tried reading Murakami? It‘s not Magical Realism per se (though I know there‘s a lot of people who would argue they are) but it‘s a very good entry point and his books are great fun when you just let yourself enjoy the ride.

Be prepared to encounter some weird shit tho. Every book of his has at least one weird sex scene.

It might just not be for you and if that’s what you decide it’s not a big deal but sometimes things grow on you as time passes. One thing to think about when reading them is why the author chose magical realism to convey their story. Would changing the story telling mode change your perception of the novel, would it be more palatable to you? Sometimes I find magical realism elevates the text, other times I find it becomes impenetrable. Usually I lean on the side of, I need to grow as a reader to appreciate them. After a few years I like to return to difficult books and see if anything has changed for me.

I may try. Many of my friends have suggested too but not in this context

Yes, I feel the same. I may not be a discerning enough reader perhaps