Welcome to A World Beyond the Unknown—A Story of Lost Magic, Forgotten Alchemy, and the Girl Who Never Wanted to be a Hero
Hi, I’m Magnolia McReed. I write books about magic, dragons, and reluctant heroines who just want to be left alone with a book and a cup of tea—but fate has other plans.
A World Beyond the Unknown is a story that’s been bubbling in my cauldron for years, shaped by the fairytales I devoured as a child, the unanswered questions that haunted me, and the real-life grief that changed the way I saw the world.
Growing up, I was obsessed with Cinderella—but not in the way you’d expect. I always wondered: What happens after happily ever after? Did she really want to be a princess, or did she just want freedom? And what if there was more to her story—what if her fairy godmother wasn’t quite who she seemed to be? What if she had ulterior motives? That question became the foundation for this book.
But this story was never about Cinderella. It was always so much more.
At its heart, A World Beyond the Unknown was born from something deeper—grief. I started writing this story just before I found out my mother was diagnosed with late-stage ALS. The outbreak in this book, the creeping sickness that devastates the land, is the face of that devastation. It is the fear of watching something unstoppable take away the people you love. And Alora, my protagonist, is a girl who is thrown into an unraveling world, armed only with her knowledge of herbs, old books, and a sharp wit.
She isn’t a warrior. She isn’t a queen. She isn’t the fearless, sword-wielding heroine we love to read about. She just wants to read, to learn, to heal—but the world doesn’t care what she wants. And in the end, she will have to decide what kind of mark she wants to leave on it.
🔥 Magic, Alchemy, and the Secrets of the Past
One of the things that makes A World Beyond the Unknown different from other fantasy books is its approach to magic. In this world, there are two kinds:
✨ Intuitive Magic – The kind most people think of—summoning flame, manipulating water, looking into someone’s mind with raw talent. This is the magic of the fae, the kind that still lives in the ancient bloodlines of the royal families.
📖 Alchemy – A sacred, secret art. A lost knowledge that was hidden away by those who feared its power. While intuitive magic is something you’re born with, alchemy is something you unlock—a force that can amplify magic, bend the rules of nature, and even rewrite reality itself. But it requires study, discipline, and a willingness to walk the line between creation and destruction.
The Society of Alchemists once held this knowledge, but over the centuries, their secrets and their ranks faded into myth. Now, only fragments remain—hidden and encoded in a language long forgotten—beyond the reach of those who would use that knowledge for their own end. And Alora, despite wanting nothing to do with power or prophecy, might be the only one capable of bringing that knowledge back.
🌍 A World of Fairytales Turned Reality
Alora grew up in a world much like our own—one of logic, medicine, and whispered fairytales meant for children. In that world, magic was just a story, mythical creatures were nothing more than folklore, and the only power she ever held was wielding the knowledge of plants and poisons—the skills her uncle had meticulously taught her over the years. Alora finds purpose in the careful mixing of herbs, the precise grind of a mortar and pestle, and the steady hand needed to treat the sick and heal the injured as an apothecary’s apprentice, in the hope that one day, she’ll be the one to find a way to end the plague threatening everything she holds dear.
But when she crosses into the unknown, everything changes.
Here, the fairytales she once read in dusty books are real—and they are nothing like the stories she grew up believing. Magic isn’t kind, it’s dangerous. The creatures that lurk in the shadows aren’t just bedtime stories, they are deadly, and they are watching. And in a world where secrets are currency and power is taken, not given, Alora is suddenly faced with choices she never imagined having to make.
One moment, she’s grinding herbs and administering tonics. The next, she’s facing down dangerous kidnappers, searching for lost artifacts, wielding daggers she barely knows how to hold, and traveling across a kingdom she’s never even heard of before.
And as the veil between the life she knew and the one she’s stepped into begins to unravel, one truth becomes terrifyingly clear…
…Fairytales never told the whole story.
📖 What to Expect in A World Beyond the Unknown
If you love:
💙 Outlander (for its daring healer thrust into an unknown world)
🏰 Throne of Glass (for its secrets, betrayals, and reluctant heroines)
🌊 The Bridge Kingdom (for its political intrigue and high-stakes adventure)
🖤 A Curse So Dark and Lonely (for its fairytale roots and slow-burning tension)
…then you’ll probably love this book.
It has:
✔ A bookish heroine who just wants to read, but fate has other ideas
✔ Reluctant allies-to-something more slow-burn romance
✔ A lost grimoire full of forbidden knowledge
✔ A political world on the brink of war, where the wrong choice could tip the scales
✔ A slow unraveling of magic, myths, and a past that refuses to stay buried
If that sounds like your kind of story, welcome. You’re in the right place.
💌 Let’s Talk Fairytales
I’d love to hear from you! Who was your favorite fairytale princess growing up? Were you a Cinderella fan like me, or did you gravitate toward someone else? Drop a comment and let me know.
And if you’re curious about what happens next in A World Beyond the Unknown, make sure to subscribe. There’s so much more magic, mystery, and danger to uncover.
See you beyond the unknown,
— Magnolia 🖤✨
I am excited to read your book! My favorite princess growing up was Mulan, I feel like it watched that movie 1000 times haha.