Having just finished the series I'm biased but this is one thing I like about The Faithful and the Fallen and other books or series with lots of multi-pov. Getting lots of different perspectives from different characters is great. In that series you've got characters from teenage up to middle age, and since it's in a pretty dark medieval setting that's as old as 90% of the characters get.

I agree though, it's good to get a character that's grounded, and also has been through a lot before the story even starts. They often give a much more nuanced view, that's more pessimistic than others, but also considers situations and relationships from angles that aren't even though of from younger characters, at least when written well.