Ancestral Night

This book starts with space opera feels, then turns into a more introspective narrative inside the main character???s head. It???s a far-future society, people have implants that can record memories, search for information and communicate with each other. There are spaceships AI???s who can be citizens, implants that can regulate hormones on the fly and enhance or avoid certain feelings, alien technology, a problematic cult, personal trauma discussions, humans enhanced to live in low gravity, and pirates. There is a lot going on! Did I mention space alien giant whales and a mantis cop? Also, there are discussions about social freedom versus social responsibility. The pace of the book was uneven, and it felt super slow in some parts.??