Well, the third book isn't really a flashback so much as a history book/prologue to the first two (think Star Wars). But no, it's not like Hexwood (though I just read the Wiki summary, and I must say - Merlin:Hume? :D). Actually, in my head, the books are titled Vigil, Identity, and Origin, respectively (all under the "Genesis" series in my head), and the third book is just that: the origins of the entire story.

As for the roles, it gets even worse than that - they're all named Cierra. The first book's Cierra is in her late teens (Cierra), the second one is in her mid twenties (Cici, or as she prefers it, CC), and the third one is just barely entering puberty (Ci). They each have personal empowermant issues that are sideline to the main story about personal identity and whatnot. (Lots of hidden messages to be written in).

The fun part is that eventually, Ci becomes famous, and Cierra is named after Ci, and Cici is named after Cierra. So Cici is named after Cierra who is named after Ci, who is so named randomly because her mother just liked the name and thought it was pretty. :D

So, yes, the timeline is very simple when thought of two dimensionally, but when you up it to 3D and how each time impacts the other, well... >:D

As for vids: you're not the only one.