GraphQL's biggest problem is that it dispenses with the concept of Interface Segregation (from SOLID). Instead of having more, special-purpose, API interfaces (which RESTful APIs give us) we bring all the problems that SQL introduced for interfacing with RDBMSs in the 1970s (that have been plaguing us for 50 years now) into the realm of front-end application development.
GraphQL is popular because it helps rapidly develop backend services. BE devs don't have to spend as much time wiring up end-points and serializers. But it just shifts the problem from the BE, where it belongs, to the FE where it doesn't. Like you said, it makes FE development needlessly more complicated. Now, instead of focusing on view-related concerns, which is the point of your front-end, devs need to understand more details about the BE's domain model (unnecessarily) and need to use a text-based query language to communicate with the services. It is pure stupidity.
GraphQL is popular because it helps rapidly develop backend services. BE devs don't have to spend as much time wiring up end-points and serializers. But it just shifts the problem from the BE, where it belongs, to the FE where it doesn't. Like you said, it makes FE development needlessly more complicated. Now, instead of focusing on view-related concerns, which is the point of your front-end, devs need to understand more details about the BE's domain model (unnecessarily) and need to use a text-based query language to communicate with the services. It is pure stupidity.