My teenage years may be decades behind me, but if there’s anything that I’ve learned from recent young adult novels, it’s that their readers are surprisingly sophisticated and mature. There is no need to defang stories of the wild escapades that can come with growing up, even if real-life Gen Z readers live on a spectrum somewhere between G-rated and, ahem, “Euphoria.”

When she wrote her bestselling YA novel “Loveboat, Taipei,” Bay Area author Abigail Hing Wen met her audience where they were, detailing the delightful summer debauchery of Taiwanese American teens. Sure, there’s earnest self-discovery and cultural exploration as her characters take in their ancestral homeland, but there’s also sex, racy photo shoots, backstabbing and reconciliation.

Now adapted as a film, the most risque thing to happen in the novel’s story onscreen just might be a closed-mouth kiss. And it’s a shame, because this is one absolutely gorgeous cast.

Ashley Liao, who stars in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” in November, plays guileless Ever Wong, an Ohioan whose loving but academically obsessed immigrant parents have signed her up for a summer “cultural and education immersion program” in Taipei for fellow Taiwanese American youth. Although Ever cloaks herself in dowdy hoodies and cardigans at first, she is undeniably a babe. With her sparkling eyes and dancer’s physique, she immediately finds herself flirting with two hotties, rebellious Xavier (Nico Hiraga) and type-A Rick (Ross Butler), whose headline-worthy achievements Ever has grown up reading about in the Chinese-language newspaper World Journal.

Strangely, though, the movie adaptation chooses to age its characters by a few years. While Ever is 18 in the book, in this “Love in Taipei,” she’s med school-bound, although her true passion is for dance, and one of her romantic rivals is already in law school. So it comes off as weirdly juvenile to see a grown adult’s parents sign her up for cultural summer camp with a 10 p.m. curfew.

Still, there’s plenty to appreciate about following Ever and her very attractive Taiwanese American peers as they gallivant chastely through Taiwan’s gleaming, modern capital. It’s moving to see them unabashedly enjoy traditional arts like fan-dancing, night markets filled with mouthwatering taro balls and stinky tofu, and, simply, each other’s company. Easy kinship is a beautiful thing to witness.

“This isn’t the ’90s, Ever. Everyone knows Asians are cool now,” says Sophie, a cool-girl new friend played by an effervescent Chelsea Zhang (“Titans”), in a line that sparks the feels.

Thanks to YA authors like Wen and the screen adaptations their work inspires, young Asian Americans are so far beyond the stereotypical stories of the 1990s and early 2000s, with Asians relegated to nerd or sidekick roles. Here, Ever gets to be the winsome hero of her own story and the center of a love triangle (or quadrangle, at times).

It’s especially fun to watch the chemistry between Liao and Hiraga (“Booksmart”), who has a warm, low-key charm. Their attraction is so obvious that believing the turns of the plot does require some suspension of disbelief, even for very young viewers.

With its picture-perfect Taipei cityscapes, appealing cast and soothing, smoothed-over storyline, “Love in Taipei” makes for a stress-free comfort watch. Fans of the book may just wish it had been truer to its source material — after all, isn’t teendom supposed to feel a little dramatic?

Hannah Bae is a freelance writer.