I'd say any hype around this series is based purely on the fact that more of the book's content is going to be shown (versus the film) and not about the acting or the portrayal of the ideas in the book (e.g. the intimacy of human-dæmon bond).
Visually it's quite good, and it's nice they're able to show parts of the book that a film wouldn't be able to, but I've found there's something lacking in this series. The acting is a little bit stale and it fails to draw you in and keep you invested. It's just not as gripping as the book. There's also a big verbal emphasis on the significance of dæmons but it isn't physically shown, i.e. there's almost no affection shown between (in particular) the kids and their dæmons, which means the relationship Mrs. Coulter has with her dæmon is shown as less significant than it should be.
Visually it's quite good, and it's nice they're able to show parts of the book that a film wouldn't be able to, but I've found there's something lacking in this series. The acting is a little bit stale and it fails to draw you in and keep you invested. It's just not as gripping as the book. There's also a big verbal emphasis on the significance of dæmons but it isn't physically shown, i.e. there's almost no affection shown between (in particular) the kids and their dæmons, which means the relationship Mrs. Coulter has with her dæmon is shown as less significant than it should be.