The acting was superb.

100%. Both main performances were excellent. Leo Woodall did an especially good job by making Dexter empathetic to the viewer, despite and balancing against his obvious character flaws with a decency and big heartedness that came through. Episode 5 was a masterclass from all 3 actors playing Dexter, his mum and dad.

The screenplay and writing were excellent - while the one day per chapter lends itself much better to a series than a film, the adaptation, especially where they filled in "missing" parts key to a TV narrative where mechanics used in the book like inner monologues, letters would not work (e.g. the first meeting at graduation ball) was brilliantly done. My only criticism is that the first few episodes conveyed a bit less of the sense of a romantic connection/ yearning that was deeper in the book.

Lastly, the sound track was phenomenal - especially loved the Vanbur tracks.