I enjoyed it. I thought Michelle Yeoh was good, and had a good chemistry with Sonequa Martin-Green which mirrored what you'd expect from the relationship between their characters. I liked Doug Jones as the much more alien than usual Science Officer. Sonequa Martin-Green was OK, but I think her character hasn't been properly developed.
Writing had some issues. I don't mind that they're going dark, it's a side of the Federation that I think can be explored. I think using Sarek is a mistake. Sarek is an important part of the Trek lore, but there were other Vulcans who might have been used. Best solution is to come up with a new one, and maybe refer to Sarek occasionally, but don't make him a major character. Even worse than using Sarek, though, was making him a kind of Deus Ex Machina Jiminy Cricket through a previously unseen consequence of the Vulcan Mind Meld. The same result could have been achieved in a number of ways that wouldn't have been as silly.
The setting is another problem. We're wedging a lot of history into a small period before TOS. They've kind of given themselves a definite end point. While I don't expect them to last 10 series, I think it's a mistake to set it so close to the original. A better solution, as many people have said, is to go after Voyager. That way you don't risk getting things out of order, and the apparently more advanced tech doesn't look out of place (but I do like that they have TOS era Phasers and Communicators). Why didn't they have those Holograms in TOS? (I mean apart from budget constraints, and the practicality of creating such an effect in 1966.)
Also, while I liked her performance, I did think Michelle Yeoh was woefully underused. It's nice she got a chance to do some acting for a change, but I was really disappointed that she gets into hand to hand combat with a Klingon, and you can hardly see anything.