React used to be simple, but now its indeed pretty much "impenetrable". Hooks are a strange API. Timeslicing and suspense add a lot of complexety for the benefit of very few. The processes for hooks-like funcitonality (algebraic effects) are supposed to be happening at TC39 (ESNext) level, but I can't see anything going on on that front; instead we have workaround hacks to make the API "look" like algebraic effects.

Things just need to improve there, one way or another...