Liked it but there were some problems. The place of Death and the way the book deals with death was really cool, and I liked the idea of the necromancy magic. I don't know if we got quite enough information about the bells, but it was a fun new magic element. Sabriel herself was fun to read, though I think I would have liked her more if I had discovered this book when I was younger. I don't know if we got enough of an emotional connection with her to really connect.
On the other hand, a lot of the plot seemed really convenient, like she was just wandering around and happens to come to the places that she needs to be and meet everyone who is essential to solving the problem. There's also a lot of convenient info dumping. Also, the romance is not built up and seemed really unnecessary. Still, the world was pretty cool and I will be finishing the trilogy.