The first leg of the game, the A Realm Reborn story before you get to Heavensward is kind of a slog imo. It's leagues better than the original FFXIV but they were still figuring things out at the time of release. Some parts of the story kind of show their age with how slow the pace is. My biggest advice would be to try to get interested in the characters and the world/story. It is quite a long story and if you try to rush through it you will get burned out, at least I did the first time I tried playing. Just try to take your time and absorb the world, if that makes any sense.

Towards the later half of ARR the story kind of picks up a bit but if you can make it to that point you should have a blast in the Heavensward content and beyond, as it only gets better from there.