Full agreement with you on those technologies. GraphQL is unfortunately still part of a low grade hype cycle where more and more companies are using it because

Full agreement with you on those technologies. GraphQL is unfortunately still part of a low grade hype cycle where more and more companies are using it because "it's the next REST". But if you don't have a real need for the advantages it offers (for example a mobile app whose client side requests you can't easily change in sync with your API, or a data model that really is graph-like), it can be more cost than benefit. React on the other hand: I've lost count of the number of small prototypes I've started in vanilla JS, thinking "this time I can just roll it myself", then ended up pulling in React. Even the simplest things are easier and simpler with it, and hugely complex applications are also easier and simpler with it. It has a fantastic API surface.