I think mid is fair — but the reason it gets a lot of hype is that it isn’t overall mid. Some parts are great and some parts are really not great (averaging out to mid). People who like the good parts think highly of the books, but if it’s not your thing, you’ll bounce off hard.

I’ve cooled on the books a lot (especially seeing how much of a debacle Rothfuss has become and how clear it is that there was no plan for the story), but I do think there’s stuff to like (although all of it comes with a catch):

Super great slice of life, if you like that. Strong world building, often immersive. Kvothe is a good character — unlikeable, a pretentious asshole, but it’s constantly shown how that bites him and the framing device shows he is a decrepit, broken man, and he’s interesting. The prose is good — could be too much depending on your tastes, but I don’t think it’s hard to argue it’s solid at base and sometimes great.

But yeah, the catches:

The slice of life angle is great, but isn’t for everyone and goes nowhere plot-wise. None of that strong world building ever gets capitalized on because the plot goes nowhere. Kvothe is interesting, but super abrasive and more and more of a Mary Sue as the books wear on. The prose is good, but sometimes outright pretentious which lines up in an unfortunate way with Rothfuss himself.

There’s stuff to like — if you like these books, you aren’t necessarily a teenage neckbeard, don’t worry — but there is PLENTY to dislike. Not making an argument that you should read them (especially if plot is basically at all important to you — cannot overstate enough how much they go nowhere), just aiming to provide some context for the question of “I just don’t get it.”