Not literally (there is "serverless" but it is not literally serverless). As you said it yourself, you "create a web application and deploy it". This deploy is always to a server, which in turn "serves" your website to anyone who "requests" it.

If you feel there's too much HTML, consider breaking your React component in smaller components.

Aside from the aforementioned Hacker News, I also use the "Recommended" tab in Pocket. I do have to hide some unrelated posts every once in a while, but, in the other hand, I end up stumbling upon good stuff there, not only news but also interesting repos on GitHub.