It's actually worse than that, because with graphql you can create a single query which is the moral equivalent of: SELECT * FROM master_table LEFT JOIN sub_ta

It's actually worse than that, because with graphql you can create a single query which is the moral equivalent of: SELECT * FROM master_table LEFT JOIN sub_table LEFT JOIN sub_sub_table LEFT_JOIN sub_sub_sub_table... ...which is effectively "dump everything". In a REST environment you'll at least need a lot more individual requests - that's both the blessing and curse.